By Mitch Blankespoor
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – After dominating possession in the first half, the Kalamazoo College men's soccer team began the second half of play with a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately for the Hornets, they could not hold it. The Adrian College Bulldogs scored two goals less than two minutes apart to steal a 2-1 victory in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) opener for both teams.
"I give the credit to Adrian," said Kalamazoo Head Coach Lumumba Shabazz in a post-game interview. "We did not finish, and they wanted it more."
The Hornets did not wait long to open up the scoring. In the seventh minute, Kalamazoo junior midfielder Jory Finkelberg reversed the ball to sophomore forward Nicholas Shabino on the near side of MacKenzie Field. The Bloomfield Hills native took one touch to his right, and cracked a 25-foot shot over the head of Adrian goalkeeper Niko Giantsopoulous to give K a 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, the Hornets would put more pressure on the Bulldog netminder. Kalamazoo fired off four shots from the 18-minute mark to the 20-minute mark, three of which were on target. Giantsopoulous saved all three to keep the Bulldogs within a single goal.
The Hornets enjoyed most of the possession in the first half, but could not find the back of the net again.
The Bulldogs began the second half on the offensive. Adrian earned three corner kicks in the first three and a half minutes of the second half. The Kalamazoo defense would clear the ball off of its end line on all three occasions.
Possession for both teams remained in the midfield for the next 20 minutes until Adrian earned yet another corner kick in the 77th minute. This time, the visitors capitalized. The Riley Jackson corner kick for the head of Bulldog defender Matt Davis who headed the ball down towards the far post past the arms of Hornet junior goalkeeper Beau Prey to tie the game at 1-1.
Two minutes later, Adrian struck again. A handball in Kalamazoo's box earned Adrian a penalty kick. Junior Nick Minshall beat Prey to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game.
That goal proved to be the game-winner. Kalamazoo could not muster another scoring chance.
Both teams took 15 shots in the contest with Adrian holding a slight 8-6 advantage in shots on goal. Both teams also took 15 shots. The Bulldogs earned eight corner kicks compared to seven for Kalamazoo.
"We didn't play well enough tonight, especially in the second half," Shabazz said. "This is a good wakeup call for our team. Welcome to the MIAA."
Kalamazoo falls to 2-3-0, 0-1-1 MIAA on the season. The Hornets return to action Sep. 25 when they travel to Olivet for a 4:00 p.m. match with the Comets.