Tuesday afternoon in Kentfield saw a multitude of firsts for Mariners Men's Soccer. The team played their first ever game on the new turf field, Freshmen Kristoffer Wangberg and Daniil Menshikov scored their first ever goals and Head Coach Geoff Aguiar won his first ever game in charge of Marin. The Mariners led 1-0 at the break and 2-0 in the second half before a late goal by Monterey made the final tally 2-1.
Wangberg made his presence known immediately with a goal inside the first minute of play. He pounced on a ball inside the box and chipped it over the Monterey Peninsula keeper for his first career goal. The native of Denmark started the game on the right wing and was impactful throughout the match. Marin had a couple more excellent chances early on as the MPC back four was shaky to begin, but despite chances by Joseph Ndungu and Peter Carroll, the Mariners could not increase their early advantage and went to the break with a 1-0 lead.
Marin doubled their lead in the 54th minute as Wangberg fed Menshikov on the right wing for a powerful shot from a tight angle. The ball eluded the keeper and found the net for a 2-0 lead. Marin was lucky to keep that score line as the post played an important role in the victory. MPC hit the post once in the first half and early on in the second, each of which could have tied the game.
The Mariners also fell victim to the post as Ndungu was denied by the woodwork in the 77th minute. Just over a minute later the Lobos' Yessine Bassaie struck a powerful shot from 25 yards out that beat Mariners' keeper George Vartholomeos. The goal was assisted by Antione Marques and decreased Marin's advantage to a single goal at 2-1.
Marin's defense tightened as they held on to close out the match and open the season with a victory.
Menshikov and Wangberg each opened their accounts with a goal as Wangberg was credited with an assist. Vartholomeos made three saves for the Mariners while his counterpart from MPC Mark Cardenas saved seven of nine shots on goal.
Coach Geoff Aguiar was pleased with the result, "It was a good first game, we are still putting a lot of pieces together as guys are getting a feel for each other, but to see the guys play hard and play a little bit scrappy is a good foundation to build on for the rest of the season."
The Mariners next match is Friday, August 30th as they visit Skyline College at 2pm.
