Cardinals open home schedule with 2-0 win over Shenandoah

WASHINGTON – The Cardinals opened their 2010 home schedule in style on Wednesday afternoon with a 2-0 blanking of Shenandoah at CUA Soccer Field.  With the win CUA evens its record at 2-2, while the visiting Hornets fall to 2-2.  Freshman Ian Smith scored both goals for the Cardinals on the day. 

“I thought we played well at times, but certainly did not put together a full 90 minutes,” CUA head coach Travis Beauchamp said.  “We could have capitalized on more of the opportunities we had, but there were definitely some good things out there today.  We received good contributions from our freshmen and that was great to see.”

The Cardinals out shot the Hornets 13-9 for the game and had three corner kicks to Shenandoah’s two.  Tom O’Leary got the start in goal for CUA and responded with seven saves, including one on a penalty kick.  Hornets' netminder Adrian Acosta stopped four shots in his 90 minutes of action.

Both teams started slow on Wednesday with neither able to establish much on offense in the early going.  Smith put a stop to that however when he took Mike Brennan’s feed and chipped the ball over Acosta’s head into the back of the net for a 1-0 CUA lead at the 29:17 mark.

Less than ten minutes later Smith came calling again, this time off a feed from Alex Sagastume, as the Cardinals went in front 2-0 with six minutes to play before halftime.  CUA got off two more shots in the half and took its two-goal lead into the break.

Just over a minute into the second half CUA was whistled for a foul near its own goal.  Chester Podd was awarded a penalty kick and lined up for his chance.  Podd tried to sneak the ball past O’Leary into the right corner, but O’Leary made a brilliant diving save to preserve the 2-0 lead.  “That was a huge save by Tom,” Beauchamp added.  “He made a terrific play on the ball.”

From there CUA’s defense held the Hornets in check as the Cardinals notched their second shutout of the season.  “The pace of this game was much different than we’ve seen,” Beauchamp noted.  “But every time out helps us; it’s a chance to get better.  We’ve gotten better each game we’ve played and that is encouraging.”  

CUA will return to action this weekend when the Cardinals head to Hampden-Sydney for a two-day tournament.  CUA will open play on September 11 with a match versus Marymount that gets underway beginning at 2:30.  “This weekend will be another test for us similar to last weekend,” Beauchamp said.  “We’re looking forward to it.”