SWARTHMORE, Pa.—Swarthmore College Men's Soccer opened the 2019 season with a 3-2 win at home on Saturday over the Arcadia University Knights. Junior Joe Barile tallied a pair of goals, and Trevor Homstad added a penalty kick goal that proved to be the difference.
Besides two miscues in the final seconds of each half, Swarthmore's defense was solid in Saturday's win. Arcadia's tallies came with 14 seconds left in the first half and 10 seconds left in the second.
Swarthmore struck in the 12th minute as freshman forward Bless Tumushabe used his speed to chase down a flicked pass from Barile and left his defender in the dust. The goalkeeper came out to track cut off Tumushabe, but he slid a pass from the right of the box over to the goal mouth where Barile finished the give-and-go with a quick right-footed tap off the left post and in.
Barile scored again in the 33rd minute from nearly the same spot on the field. Ben Lau navigated to open space on the right of the box and crossed the ball central where Barile had slipped past his defender on the weak side and redirected the ball into the goal.
The Garnet took a 2-1 lead into the break and earned a crucial insurance goal in the 56th minute. After being awarded a free kick as close as possible to the box without being in it, Swarthmore actually earned a penalty kick on the next play when a handball was called on a member of Arcadia's wall. Homstad lined up to take the PK and finished with the changeup.
Swarthmore concludes the 22nd Annual Garnet Alumni Classic at 4 p.m. on Sunday versus Alvernia University.
