DELHI, N.Y. (September 26, 2021) - The SUNY Delhi men's soccer team were tangled in a tight match Sunday with NAC-foe Maine Farmington that stood scoreless for the first 82 minutes. It was a penalty kick that decided the outcome, however, as the Beavers' Gracien Mukwa took advantage of his opportunity to give Delhi its first league defeat of the year. The Broncos are 2-1 in NAC play and 2-6-1 overall, concluding a busy weekend that saw them beat Northern Vermont Lyndon by a 5-0 score Saturday.
Both sides had their fair share of chances, either blocked away masterfully by the goalkeepers, including Jonathan Walch's heads-up plays in a seven-save afternoon, and shots that just missed their target by inches. With just minutes to play, UMF's Mukwa, who made his acquaintance with the Broncos with six shots on the day, was fouled in the box and awarded a PK. Walch picked the correct side, but there was nothing he could do to prevent Mukwa's delivery just inside the right post. The end result marked Delhi's fifth defeat of the year decided by one goal and fourth time ending in a 1-0 score. This should not overshadow what has been an otherwise great defensive season from Delhi, as Maine Farmington's 15-6 lead in shots and 7-4 edge in corner kicks failed to produce any further scores.
"This game came down to one crucial moment, as most games do.," said head coach EJ Reutemann. "I thought from a desire standpoint this was our best collective team effort of the season. You could really tell this was a game both teams wanted to win very badly. We needed to have more quality in possession and on the attacking end to cause more problems and we just didn't have that today. We are getting closer to putting together a total ninety minute performance on both sides of the field. I hope that is what we bring to the match this Wednesday under the lights at Hartwick College."
As aforementioned by Coach Reutemann, the Broncos step aside momentarily from their NAC slate this Wednesday when they head to face Hartwick at 6:00 p.m., kicking off a six-match road trip. The Broncos don't return home until their regular season finale against NAC West-rival SUNY Canton on Saturday, Oct. 23.
