SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team opened its 2025 season with a 1-0 win over D'Youville University Thursday at James Egli Field.
Thursday's win marked the second consecutive season that SRU earned a 1-0 victory over D'Youville as SRU begins its year with victories in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2009 and 2010.
The win was highlighted by a 50th-minute goal from
Jimmy Irani, the first of his collegiate career.
Zsombor Retfalvi and
Cornelis Dedecker registered assists in the victory as well while
Aashi Pandher led SRU in shots with two, landing both on goal.
Retfalvi and fellow newcomer
Patrick Tierney both registered one shot apiece. Returners
Gabin Lonjard and Irani each took one shot as well. Retfalvi and Irani placed their shots on-target.
Goalkeeper
Troy Nine recorded one save on the way to the shutout in what was his first career collegiate appearance.
The first half saw both teams trade momentum, leading to an 11th-minute save from Nine on a shot by Jonathan Ghobrial. The attempt turned out to be the Saints' only shot on goal of the match.
In the final 34 minutes of the first half, Pandher put two shots on goal, but D'Youville goalkeeper Matthew Solorio had the answer for both. D'Youville carried a 7-3 shot advantage going into halftime.
The Rock found their stride five minutes into the second half. Dedecker ran past his defender on the right wing and played in a pass to Retfalvi, who sent a nifty one-touch pass through his legs to Irani. The sophomore standout then went one-on-one with Solorio and placed a shot past the diving keeper to give SRU a 1-0 lead in the 50th minute.
Slippery Rock nearly doubled their lead shortly after Irani's goal, forcing Solorio to make another save less than five minutes after the restart of play on an attempt by Retfalvi. The Saints responded with four shots in the next 20 minutes, although none were on the target.
As the clock continued to dwindle, DYU kept up the pressure in their attacking end and had multiple corners in the final minutes to try and find an equalizer, but ultimately could not find the back of the net as The Rock closed out the win to post back-to-back shutout victories in season openers for the first time since the 1975 and 1976 campaigns.
D'Youville came away with the 13-6 advantage in shots, but The Rock held a 4-1 edge in shots on goal and had a 5-4 upper hand in corner kicks.
Slippery Rock will return to action against Walsh University 4 p.m. Wednesday at James Egli Field.
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