Marino, Davin lead American University men past Richmond, 2-0, in exhibition

Junior Mike Marino and senior Jamie Davin each scored a goal to lift the American University men’s soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Richmond on Saturday afternoon in an exhibition match.

Both offenses began slowly, yielding few scoring opportunities in the first half of play. American’s best chance came in the 26th minute on a cross to freshman Colin Seigfried, who missed the one-timer wide right from close range. Later in the half, classmate Eli Dennis had two scoring opportunities, although one header was blocked and the other sailed wide.

The Eagles, however, found their rhythm in the second half on the offensive end. The scoring began in the 49th minute on a feed from Seigfried across the middle to a streaking Marino in front of the net. Marino did the rest, heading the pass in full stride into the back left of the net to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage. “It was a great team goal and a great individual effort on Mike’s part to get there,” commented Head Coach Todd West on his live postmatch interview on Eagles Vision TV. “It was a fun goal to watch.”

AU added an insurance goal 11 minutes later on a long-range strike from Davin to set the final margin at 2-0 in favor of American. “Jamie can strike a ball with both feet ... he found an opportunity and hit a great shot that I don’t think many goalkeepers can get to,” added West.

American’s defense was solid in the second half, holding the Spiders to only three shots in the last 45 minutes of play. Three AU goalkeepers – junior Matt Makowski, freshman Billy Knutsen and sophomore Alex Almodovar – combined to pitch the shutout. The trio recorded a combined five saves.

For the game, both teams fired 10 shots while Richmond held a slim 5-4 advantage in shots on goal. American registered six corner kicks compared to four for the Spiders.