Frostburg State University Athletics

FROSTBURG, Md. – Sophomore forward Frank Stare drove the Frostburg State Men's Soccer attack in a 4-2 home win over Salem (WV) on Wednesday night.
 
The Tigers started the match creating more attacking chances, testing graduate keeper Josiah Emerson within the first 30 seconds before another effort was blocked. Two more chances fell to SU in the first 12 minutes, with one being right at Emerson and the next coming on a header that went just the wrong side of the post off a free kick.
 
FSU finally got themselves going after nearly 15 minutes, with senior Brian Gomez making a driving run down the left wing and being denied at the near post by Gregory Lynch. Three minutes later, Salem's defense gave the ball right to Stare, who dribbled forward 20 yards and unleashed a perfectly-placed curling effort past Lynch from just outside the 18 for a 1-0 lead.
 
After defending a Tiger corner, the Bobcats kept up the momentum, earning a throw-in deep in the offensive third. Gomez launched into the box, where freshman Lynghton Romage somehow was able to find Stare with a backheel pass, volleying past a flailing Lynch to double the advantage.
 
SU had a shot blocked before reaching Emerson, then on a counter-attack, sophomore Inzaghi Harmon went on a driving run before being denied at the near post by Lynch, as classmate Christ Fopossi then played a brilliant one-two with Stare but put his effort over the bar. Salem had the upper hand over the next five minutes, as a shot was blocked out for a corner, which eventually got played out to the right wing for Copper West to cross into the box, where Dylan Vaughn slid in to cut the deficit in half at 2-1.
 
With a late flurry of chances, graduate Kevin Garcia-Torres saw his effort charged down, while Emerson made an important save on Junior Lormera trying to poke the ball past him with sophomore Spencer Davis providing some defensive company. After that opportunity, the sides went into the break with Frostburg still leading by a goal.
 
Through the first 10 minutes the second half, there would be more fouls than shot attempts, with Salem firing a pair off target while Romage had one blocked. Some more misplaced finishing took stage in the next 15 minutes, as the Tigers had two more hits go wide left while freshman Abdullah Soulemana sent a header over the bar.
 
Approaching the final 20 minutes, SU was handed a lifeline, as Romage left out a leg to bring down Jordan Johnson inside the area, putting home his penalty kick to even things at 2-2. Hoping to get back ahead quickly, Stare fed a pass down the right side to Harmon, who couldn't beat Lynch from a sharp angle, while freshman Julian Quirk made his first save in net on a deep free kick by Josue Villegas.
 
Just after that chance, Quirk's punt led to a throw-in that found Stare dribbling into the box, seeing his goal-bound effort blocked by a defender. On the resulting corner, Stare swung the ball into the back stick, where amongst a goal-line scramble, hit the post and found its way into the back of the net to give FSU their lead back at 3-2.
 
A minute later, Romage had a long header go over the bar, with Frostburg's defense doing well to limit any Salem chances. The Bobcats had a pair of great chances to put the game away in the final five minutes, as Stare led a counter-attack down the left side, passing across to Harmon but both were denied by Lynch hoping to keep his team's chances alive.
 
The Tigers earned a pair of corners at the other end, but all they could create were two chances that went over the bar, as Lormera came closest with a header that he couldn't get on top of. As the clock inside one minute, Stare drove another attack out of a defensive clearance, passing through to sophomore David Williams, who passed into an empty net with Lynch scrambling back having gone up on a set piece, netting his first career FSU goal and making the final score 4-2.
 
Both sides had 17 shots in the contest, with the Bobcats putting nine on target to the Tigers' six. Stare had a career day with three goals and an assist for seven total points, tied for sixth-most in a single game in program history.
 
With the win, Frostburg improves to 5-1-2 on the year, while Salem drops to 2-4-2. The Bobcats will remain at home on Saturday, September 26 as they host Virginia State at 5:30 p.m., where it will be Senior Day. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.