Shawnee State men's soccer outlasts Michigan-Dearborn in physical 4-1 battle

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- When contests get heated in any sport, it can be difficult for any team to win the physical, mental, and emotional battle.

However, the Shawnee State men's soccer program won all three important elements in a nonconference contest against Michigan-Dearborn -- and showcased strong poise as a result.

In a wild affair that resulted in 15 yellow cards and 27 fouls between the two teams, the Bears jumped out in front on a 31st minute goal off of a rebound opportunity by Benjamin Chandler, then answered a Michigan-Dearborn equalizer 45 seconds later off of a Nikos Pontikis back post finish in the 38th minute to give Shawnee State a 2-1 halftime advantage.

Continuing to maintain its 2-1 advantage in the second half of competition thanks to four saves by Eric Green and a defense that didn't break, Shawnee State ultimately picked up where it left off in the first half.

The Bears scored two second half goals within five minutes of each other as Cameron Thompson's 76th-minute top-shelf finish off of a pass from Clement Akanyah, followed by a 79th-minute penalty kick from Guilherme Bitencourt after Thompson was fouled in the box, finished off Shawnee State's impressive 4-1 victory over Michigan-Dearborn Saturday evening at Shawnee Turf.

Shawnee State (3-3-1) not only evened its record at .500 with Saturday's victory but moved to 2-0 at Shawnee Turf this season in the process of claiming a victory on Saturday. The Bears have outscored their two opponents that they faced in Portsmouth -- Washington Adventist and Michigan-Dearborn -- by a combined 13-1 margin.

In Saturday's contest, Shawnee State doubled up Michigan-Dearborn in shot opportunities by a 10-5 margin, all while placing nine of its 10 attempts on frame in the three-goal triumph. The Bears didn't allow a Michigan-Dearborn shot over the first 28 minutes of the contest as well as the last 28 minutes of the affair.

Chandler proves early spark again

For the second consecutive contest, Shawnee State sophomore Benjamin Chandler again provided a much-needed jolt with his play off of the bench.

Coming in during the 29th minute of play to give senior forward Marco Riva a breather, Chandler made his impact felt within the first two minutes of his time on the pitch as the Durham, England product scored on a rebound of a Nikos Pontikis shot to score the first goal of his Shawnee State career after transferring in from College of the Siskiyous (Calif.) prior to the season. The six-foot talent continues to play well in his role for the Bears as one of the first guys who come off of the bench for SSU on a game-by-game basis.

Pontikis cashes in with huge GW goal

From the 30th minute of play all the way to the 45th minute -- or over the final 15 minutes of the opening half -- the physical play reached a crescendo as eight of the 15 yellow cards were handed out during this point in time.

However, captain Nikos Pontikis proved to be a calming presence with his footwork and his hustle.

Darian Rodrigues, who continues to showcase strong corner-kicking abilities and has provided much-needed juice of his own off of the bench, helped Shawnee State answer a 38th minute salvo by Michigan-Dearborn's Andrew Schwartz when the sophomore launched a ball toward the box. The ball, which found Lars Van de Pol initially, then was finished by Pontikis after a brief tussle in the box between the pair and Michigan-Dearborn starting goalkeeper Jack Rogers, allowing the Bears to take a 2-1 lead just 45 seconds after Schwartz's goal.

Pontikis, who continues to play with a laser-sharp mentality, has scored at least one goal in three out of Shawnee State's last four matches. The captain leads Shawnee State with five goals, and with two assists to boot, also leads SSU with 12 points in all.

For his career, Pontikis has 10 goals and four assists as a Bear.

Top-shelf Thompson

Coming off of the bench himself to make an impact, Cameron Thompson capitalized.

Running down the near side, Clement Akanyah shot a pass over to Thompson as the freshman moved inside the box, and with room to fire, Thompson blasted a ball that Michigan-Dearborn goalkeeper Elijah Burlak had no chance of saving as the 5-10 product of Unioto High School scored the second goal of his young career to give Shawnee State breathing room.

Then, in the 79th minute, Thompson helped set up another scoring opportunity -- as the freshman sliced and diced Burlak, forcing a foul in the box. This led to an opportunity for captain Guilherme Bitencourt, who beat Burlak with relative ease to notch the second goal of the dependable defender's career as Shawnee State put the game away.

Additional

With the victory, Shawnee State (3-3-1) will look to keep its momentum going when the Bears take on No. 12 Cumberlands (Ky.) Wednesday afternoon at the UC Lacrosse and Soccer Complex. Wednesday's match will begin at 4 p.m. in Williamsburg, Ky. as the men's contest will precede the women's matchup between Shawnee State and Cumberlands (Ky.), which begins at 6:30 p.m.