Boxscore

Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

TOWSON, Md. -- The University of Delaware men’s soccer team fell to Towson University, 1-0, during Colonial Athletic Association action at the Towson Center Soccer Complex on Wednesday afternoon.

Delaware (5-10-0 overall, 2-5-0 CAA) dropped its fourth one-goal loss of the season on a 48th minute score by Towson (6-7-0 overall, 3-4-0 CAA) junior Marco Mangione.

The teams tallied merely 10 shots during the first 45 minutes of action, leading to a 0-0 stalemate at the break. Following a slew of Tiger substitutions late in the first stint of play, Delaware booted a pair of shots at goal, but was unable to claim the advantage.

At 40:57, Hens’ freshman defender, Eyal Gruber (at right), laced a shot on goal only to be saved by Towson keeper, John Steele. Less than two minutes later, senior midfielder Darren Christie chanced the go-ahead when he fired a shot just high of goal to connect it with the crossbar at 41:11.

Towson got off to a strong start in the second period when Mangione scored on the first shot of the half. Liam Maloney and Tommy Appel-Schumacher recorded assists on the play as they teamed to get the ball to Mangione. Once it was under his control, the midfielder rifled a shot from a sharp angle to the left side of goal past Hens’ keeper, junior co-captain, Conrad Rusnak.

Delaware looked to retaliate in the 49th minute when junior Jon Scheer set-up for a corner kick. Scheer sent the ball into the box and Christie gathered the serve and took a shot, though it flew high of knotting the contest at one.

Despite being edged in shots, 7-6, in the latter 45, the Hens applied good pressure in Tiger territory, but were unsuccessful in finding the back of the net.

“We played well enough in the second half today to earn a result, but fell on a rather unfortunate goal,” noted fourth-year head coach Ian Hennessy. “We played some very good soccer at times, hit the woodwork and again created some very good opportunities in the box.

“We have to try and take the positives from today and move on. We have a tough game this weekend against conference-leading UNC Wilmington,” Hennessy concluded.

Rusnak made four stops in goal for the Hens, while Steele was only forced to save two for the home squad.

Delaware will return to CAA action on Saturday, Oct. 24 when it travels to CAA opponent, UNC Wilmington, for a 7 p.m. match.

AGATE:

Towson........0...1.....1
Delaware......0...0.....0

Scoring Summary: First Half: None; Second Half: TU - Marco Mangione (Liam Maloney/Tommy Appel-Schumacher) - 47:23; Shots: UD - 10, TU - 13; Corner Kicks: UD - 5, TU - 4; Saves: UD - 4 (Conrad Rusnak, 4), TU - 2 (John Steele, 2); Fouls: UD - 13, TU 16; Offsides: UD - 3, TU - 3.