Griffin’s Two Goals Propel Men’s Soccer Over Grove City

Sept. 25 – (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – Thanks to a solid second half and sophomore forward Ricky Griffin’s (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.) right foot, the Carnegie Mellon University men’s soccer team kept their perfect season intact, coming from behind to defeat the Grove City Wolverines 2-1 on Tuesday, September 25 at Gesling Stadium. The Tartans improve to 6-0 while Grove City drops to 2-5-2.

Grove City senior Paul Cardinal picked a good time to score his first goal of the season, as he gave the Wolverines a 1-0 lead with only six seconds left in the first half. Cardinal received a pass from senior Eli Lamborn and took a shot from the right side of the box past Carnegie Mellon goalkeeper Matthew Bazin (Mountain Lakes, N.J./Delbarton) and into the lower left corner of the goal.

Griffin netted the equalizer in the 53rd minute when he collected a loose ball in front of the six-yard box and one-timed it into the goal. Sophomore midfielder Ryan Browne’s (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) free kick from 37 yards out set up the goal. Another free kick by Browne nearly gave the Tartans the lead in the 65th minute when he hit the crossbar.

Griffin scored the go-ahead goal in the 77th minute when he one-timed a pass from sophomore midfielder Keith Haselhoff (McKeesport, Pa.). Haselhoff found Griffin with a pass from the top of the right side of the box that Griffin put away to the low right corner of the net. This goal gives Griffin a team-high seven on the season.

The Tartans took 14 shots compared to Grove City’s two. Grove City senior goalkeeper Michael Manahan made four saves in the loss.

The men’s soccer team will open their University Athletic Association season when they are in action next, as they travel to St. Louis to play Washington University. Game time is Saturday, September 29 at 7 p.m. CT.