(Yonkers, NY) – Junior Daniel Rosenthal (Panama City, Panama/IAE) turned in one of the finest performances in the history of the Yeshiva University Men's Soccer program, stopping 33 out of 36 shots on goal, and senior Arie Blum (Santiago, Chile/Ner Israel) and freshman Aryeh Rosenberg (Antwerp, Belgium/Jesode Hatorah) scored his second goal of the 2008 season, but the Yeshiva University Men's Soccer team lost a 3-2 double overtime heartbreaker to Medgar Evers on Friday morning at Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers, New York. With the loss, YU is now 0-4.
Yeshiva took their first lead of the 2008 season, scoring at 4:02 when freshman Michael Bergel (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Maguen Avraham) found Rosenberg with a beautiful crossing pass, and Rosenberg converted the shot for a 1-0 lead. However, just over three minutes later, Medgar Evers found the back of the net to tie the score. Yeshiva controlled play for much of the remainder of the first half, outshooting the Cougars, 19-14, but 10 opening half saves by Medgar Evers goalie John Ajirotutu kept the Cougars in the game. Then, with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half, a breakaway and goal gave Medgar Evers a 2-1 lead heading into halftime.
The second half saw the tide turn completely, as Medgar Evers absolutely dominated the final 45 minutes, outshooting Yeshiva 31-4 during the stretch. However, Medgar Evers failed to score during the second half thanks to an unbelievable performance by Rosenthal, who stopped all 20 shots on goal he faced during the second half. Rosenthal was simply spectacular as several of his stops were against breakaways, and a diving save against a shot heading into a seemingly empty net with just over a minute remaining in regulation preserved Yeshiva's shot at its first win of the 2008 season. Yeshiva did not have many offensive opportunities during the second half, but when Blum was given a chance, he took advantage. The senior created a breakaway of his own at 69:22, and converted the scoring opportunity to tie the score, and thanks to Rosenthal's heroics, the game went to overtime.
The first overtime saw Medgar Evers dominate as the Cougars outshot Yeshiva 7-1, but Rosenthal's five saves during the ten-minute session kept the game going, and forced a second overtime period. But 3:02 into the second overtime period, Medgar Evers finally broke through after 27 consecutive saves by Rosenthal, and scored the winner with seven minutes remaining in the stranza to give the Cougars the 3-2 win.
Medgar Evers had a 57-24 edge in shots, and an 8-6 advantage in corner kicks. For Medgar Evers, Ajirotutu made 13 saves and Sharad Sullivan scored all three Cougar goals.
Yeshiva returns to action on Sunday, Sept. 14 when they travel to Farmingdale State for a 12:00 p.m. Skyline Conference game.
