Men's Soccer 10/27/2010 8:30:02 PM

Lightning Burst Into Soccer Semifinals

One down, two to go.

That's surely what Lehman coach Joe Andre was hoping he would be saying following Wednesday's CUNYAC/Applebee's Championship quarterfinal against host College of Staten Island.

And thanks to a four goal outburst by his team, hope is now reality as the Lightning will move on to the semifinals on Saturday to play either Baruch or Medgar Evers.

Played in rainy and windy conditions that at times seemed better suited to sitting home and watching a good movie, the Lightning turned in a performance that was the polar opposite of their previous match against the Dolphins when they were outhustled by a hungry CSI team.

However, hustle and Lehman went hand in hand on Wednesday and the Lightning were the clear aggressors after a sluggish early start, putting forth several quality chances out of the gate.

In the fourth minute Geovanny Arredondo took a cross from Guilherme Silva and dribbled a shot across the goal mouth that barely missed; in the ninth minute it was Thaddeus Ikwuka who had an opportunity, pushing up from his defensive position to head a ball just wide; and in the 14th and 27th minutes it was Arredondo again who came close to breaking the scoreless affair.

With the first half clock all but expired, the Lightning mounted one final unexpected charge thanks to the legs of Assami Valian.

Running down a ball pushed deep into Dolphin territory, Valian controlled and put a shot off the left post. Enes Dervisevic, following the play from the left side, was in the right place at the right time as his presence forced the CSI defender into a hand ball inside the goal box. Presented with the opportunity to put the Lightning on the board first, Dervisevic converted the ensuing penalty kick to give Lehman the 1-0 lead entering halftime.

The initial part of the second half featured more offensive pressure from Arredondo and Valian. A potential second goal on an Arredondo header was nullified by an offsides call in the 51st minute; Valian couldn't quite get the right part of his foot on the ball in shooting one into the CSI keeper Ahmed El-Ghareib in the 52nd minute on a breakaway; and Arredondo once again came up empty in the 64th minute when his chip over El-Ghareib went wide.

Having survived the Lightning's attempts to blow the game open, CSI counterpunched in the 76th minute and nearly tied the score when a corner kick was redirected off a jumping Marcos Coto-Batres to a CSI player who fired just wide.

The miss would prove costly as Valian used his size and speed minutes later in playing a long pass down the middle of the field from Paulin Haxhari, holding off his defender and then sneaking a ball by the charging El-Ghareib just inside the left post for the 2-0 lead.

Two late goals by Arredondo, on a breakaway in the 84th minute, and a second by Valian on another breakaway in the 87th minute would provide the final 4-0 margin.

As both the game and rain showers were wrapping up on the CSI campus, a rainbow formed on the horizon.

Watching Lehman's effort in the win, maybe Coach Andre might want to hope it was another sign of good things to come for his team.

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