Home|Sports|Mingoes drop season opener to MAU, 5-1Sports

The Nassau GuardianSend an emailSeptember 22, 2023 24 1 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

DORAL, Florida – The University of The Bahamas (UB) Mingoes men’s soccer team ended the first half against Millennia Atlantic University (MAU) in a 0-0 tie at Doral Meadow Park in Doral, Florida, but the second half was a different story. The Macaws from MAU came out strong and scored in the first minute of the second half and never relented en route to a 5-1 win over the Mingoes.

The Macaws scored in the 46th minute of the match and never yielded after that point.

The lone Mingoes’ score came off a solo goal from Peter Julmis in the 55th minute of the match. Julmis took the ball from about midfield and charged for a clean strike into the bottom corner. After the score, Julmis appeared to hype up the team a bit.

“I didn’t really feel excited like the way I normally feel after scoring a goal because I felt like we as a team weren’t playing our best football,” he said. “Overall, I felt like it gave us a little momentum. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough but I’m looking forward to Friday’s game.”

The Mingoes possessed the ball for considerably more time than the Macaws and had several shots on goal in the first half. Mingoes’ goalkeeper Antonio Beckford also had three brilliant saves in the first half. They will play the Macaws again on Friday, at 11 a.m. at the same venue.

“The Macaws won the tactical battle in the second half and some of that is on me,” said Head Coach Alex Thompson. “They made a key change in their attack and we made a key change in our defense and that change was exploited. Arguably their best player came on in the second half and changed the game and we lost one of our players to an injury which forced us to adjust. They just exploited that.”

Midfielder Junior Kelly left the match with hamstring issues in about the 55th minute and that presented a change in the dynamics of the game.

The Macaws scored in the 46th, 51st, 59th, 78th and 87th minutes of the match.