There were goals aplenty on a wet Acalanes field Tuesday night as the College Park Falcons flew in to take on the Dons in an action-packed league match. The Acalanes squad put on quite an offensive display as five different players scored goals! The goalfest started just three minutes into the match when Dons midfielder Colin Sohn corralled a ball in the right corner and centered it for junior Colby Ebner to net for a 1-0 lead. About ten minutes later some nifty passing sent the ball to Sohn in the middle of the field and he drilled a shot into the left corner of the goal from about 25 yards out to give the Dons a two-goal lead. However, the comfortable lead didn’t last long as the Falcons nudged in a rebound off a free kick off the crossbar just three minutes later.
The Dons opened the second half with another strong offensive push and Niko White quickly restored the two-goal advantage by punching in a rebound for a 3-1 lead. However, just two minutes later the Falcons scored on a rebound shot of their own. The nets finally got a rest over the next 15 minutes as the ball moved up and down the field without a score. The Dons backline rebuffed a number of Falcon advances with help from defenders Simon Appel, Ryan Rho-Baity, Griffin Dubois, Jonny Roth, and Omri Noiman.
As the match entered the final 20 minutes of play, the Dons continued to exhibit some fine passing to push the ball downfield but College Park again came back and stunned the Dons and the home crowd with a tying goal. However…you guessed it…..the Dons came right back with yet another goal just four minutes later as Ben Pecci fired a shot from the left side that caromed off the right post and into the back of the net to put the Dons back on top 4-3. The play intensified in the final 10 minutes but goalkeeper Jake Boselli helped preserve the lead with a few saves and great hustle all over the box to chase down loose balls before the Falcons could reach them. After a few non-calls that got the home crowd riled up, the Dons were finally awarded a penalty kick with just two minutes left when White was taken down in front of the goal. Roth stepped up to knock the PK home, finally grounding the Falcons’ comeback hopes and giving the home team a 5-3 victory. Ebner and Sohn shared “Man of the Match” recognition.
The Dons moved to 5-1 in league play and 6-3-2 overall, having won five of their last six matches. Next up for the Dons is a non-league matchup with Alameda on Saturday at Acalanes at 1pm. Go Dons!
