MOON TOWNSHIP– Opening up their season and starting off on home turf, the Robert Morris men’s soccer team welcomed the Virginia Military Institute on Thursday and succeeded them with a final score of 5-0.
Prior to this year’s home opener, the Colonials have not won their home opener since 2015, when they defeated Saint Peter’s 2-1 in overtime.
“It’s great,” head coach Jonathan Potter said postgame. “We want to make this a place where we can compete really well and beat any opponent here at home. To start the season 1-0 is huge. When you don’t pick up that first win, the pressure mounds. So to get that off our back early is great.”
Robert Morris was able to connect some passes early on and mostly keep the ball out of their half. There were plenty of chances on net, including a tipped shot on goal in the fifth minute by Gabe Norris and a shot over the net in the seventh minute by Chase Gilley.
VMI started to turn up the heat, with a yellow card issued for a hard tackle to Anass Hadran, accompanied by several other fouls.
Defense for the Colonials was concrete including freshman Robert Kolbeins being rock solid in the backline. Freshman goalie Kieran Gorgenyi did not get a touch on the ball until the 26th minute.
The Colonials’ connected passes paid off in the 27th minute, with Victor Koah finding the net on an offensive push with assists from from Kosi Udeh and Darren Gray.
“It feels electric,” Koah said following the match. “It’s on our home pitch as well. We really needed that goal, it was 0-0 so it was a tight game at the time. It really relieved pressure and it was great to get the first goal of the season.”
The energy seemed to pick up on both ends, and VMI was able to apply heavy pressure with a solid shot to the top right by Jesse Lee, but it was saved by Gorgenyi.
The Colonials were able to test out a lot of their roster making multiple substitutions, and the original starting nine were brought back in to kick off the second half.
The score remained 1-0 at the end of the first half, but Robert Morris wasted no time making a statement in the second. Just a minute in, Alex Lorigny put a bullet in the back right of the net from a free kick. A third goal was not far behind, with captain Gabe Norris scoring a header goal in the 55th minute with an assist from Tim Koczulap.
Even after three goals the Colonials did not decrease their energy in the slightest. They kept up heavy offensive pressure and just a minute after re-entering the match, Anass Hadran was able to put one in the top corner.
Continuing substitutions in the second half, freshman goalkeeper Giancarlo Acosta was brought in with fifteen minutes left to get his feet wet in the net.
VMI was seeing yellow as they had four yellow cards during the duration of the match, with one being given to the team’s bench.
The last play of the game was one of the craziest all game with a mix-up in VMI’s zone with just over a minute left. Kyler Miller was able to clean up the mess, scoring his first collegiate goal with an assist by John Paul Mbuthia. The game soon thereafter came to a close, the Colonials seeming to have a blast on top with five goals.
The team proved that there is no one, two, three, or even four sole scorers, as all five goals had a different player bury the ball.
“Defending is a team game, goal-scoring is a team game,” Coach Potter said. “Today we did well in possession and we got a lot of different guys involved.”
Robert Morris will aim to continue their success on Sunday when the team welcomes the Niagara Purple Eagles at 1 p.m.
