The Yeshiva University men’s soccer team earned a hard-fought non-conference win over Pratt Institute, 3-1, at University Stadium on Wednesday evening. The Maccabees scored the lone goal in the first half, and outscored the Cannoneers, 2-1, in the second to clinch the win.

Each team had plenty of opportunities to score the game’s first goal in the early stages of the match, but strong goaltending and defense by both teams kept the score knotted at zero. Yeshiva (3-10-1) broke through in the 37th minute, as freshman forward Netanel Silberman received a pass from Dan Cohen and sprinted towards the net, kicking the ball past the goalkeeper to put the home team up, 1-0. Freshman goalkeeper Max Goldstein was put to the test early, making five saves in the first 45 minutes to keep Yeshiva’s lead at 1-0 entering intermission.

Less than three minutes into the second stanza, sophomore forward Albert Dichy received a through pass from Silberman, and ended up striking the ball into the back of the cage to extend the Maccabees’ lead to 2-0. Senior defender Yosef Amihay Gerszberg was credited with the secondary assist. The Cannoneers (4-3) would not go down without a fight, as Natt Slober grabbed a rebound and drilled the ball into the net to cut Yeshiva’s lead in half, in the 58th minute.

The Macs settled down on defense, allowing only seven shots in the second half, with only four being on goal. With less than 10 minutes remaining, Silberman gave Yeshiva insurance by scoring his second of the match, and fifth of the season, off of feeds from sophomore midfielder Jacopo Pagliara and Dichy, making it 3-1 in favor of YU.

The Maccabees would not allow the opposition to get quality chances to narrow the score in the closing minutes, as Yeshiva went on to earn its third win of the season.

For the contest, Yeshiva had the commanding advantage in shots, 29-17, and a slight edge in corner kicks, 4-3. Goldstein made eight saves to earn the first victory in net of his collegiate career

CREDIT: YUMACS.COM