SPARTANS FALL ON THE ROAD TO DELHI IN 7 GOAL THRILLER

SPARTANS FALL ON THE ROAD TO DELHI

Delhi, N.Y. - The Spartan Men's Soccer Team took the long bus trip to face Region 3 counterparts, SUNY Delhi. With the Cayuga Men 8-0 and 8th in the Nation, the Spartans faced the Broncos in a very crucial match. The two teams faced each other last year in the NJCAA Region 3 semi finals, with the Spartans coming out on top winning 2-1.

Both teams started well and grappled for the upper hand, but it was the Spartans that lead the way with Captain Sean Wynn (Liverpool, England) setting up the goal for Connor Field (Felixstowe, England) to tap it in from a corner, crossed in by Wynn. With the Cayuga Spartans taking the lead 1-0, the referee called a PK for a foul on Chris Davison (Newcastle, England). Captain and Sophomore Sean Wynn slotted the PK pass the Delhi keeper to make it 2-0 for the Spartans. The Cayuga Men lead at the half 2-0 with 45 minutes left of play and Delhi playing a man down after one of the Broncos players saw red after the PK foul.

With the second half underway, the Spartans started really well and Chris Davison rattled the crossbar off a cross from Sean Richards (Cardiff, Wales) but failed to go in. Davison who was also put in 3 times to finish, but couldn't find his form to put the men up even more. With a free kick about 15 yards into the Delhi half, Josh Grace (Glasgow, Scotland) stepped up to take a free kick early and played Sean Richards in, for the Welshman to chip the ball over the oncoming Delhi keeper to put the game 3-0 for the Spartans.

With 22 minutes to go in the game their was a shift in Delhi players, and they grabbed a goal against the run of play to make it 3-1. The Broncos didn't finish there, grabbing another two more goals within the next 8 minutes to tie the game 3-3 with 9 minutes to go. The Broncos had another player sent off and they were down to 9 men. With the game being 3-3 with 3 minutes to go, the Delhi Men hit their final blow to break the hearts of the Spartans when they scored the final goal in the 88th minute. The final whistle came and the Delhi made an unbelievable comeback after being 3-0 down, winning 4-3 to take the unbeaten record away from Cayuga.

We caught up with Coach Wynne and he had this to say, "I thought we played very well and should have put the game out of reach, but we didn't. We got complacent and didn't want to win the game. Basically the wheels feel off the bus, and hats off to the Delhi men who climbed out of a hole to beat us. That's an exceptional come back and that's the reason why you can never think the game is over until the final whistle blows. Delhi wanted it more than us and done everything in their power to win. With all the shots we had it could have been 7-0, but Delhi's keeper was outstanding and they deserved it. Now we have a week off from games to reflect on what happened and put the wheels back on".

The Spartans move to 8-1 and face Erie Community College on Saturday at Emerson Park. Game kicks off at 4:00pm.