Ann Arbor, MI – Three goals on the day was a hat-trick performance by stellar forward
Marvin van der Made. Beginning with a penalty kick made early in the second half, the Patriots down the Concordia (MI) Cardinals in the Sunday afternoon match-up, 5-0.
Van der Made broke a three-week scoreless rut with a trio of goals on the afternoon. Under his offensive leadership, the Patriots were able to score five goals on the home team in 45 minutes of action coming out of a scoreless halftime.
The Cardinals offered more pressure after the mid-game break, and less than a minute in, a foul in the box resulting in
Sergio Infantes Castell hitting the turf meant a penalty kick opportunity for the Patriots. Taking the attempt, van der Made marked the first PK of the season after showing right but sliding the ball into the lower left corner of the net.
In the 62nd minute,
Enrique Pinanez found van der Made again across the box, who scooted the ball in from roughly six yards out. With the game well in hand, van der Made was in the right place to tap in his fifth season goal after the keeper initially saved a shot by
Miguel Reis.
In his hat-trick affair, the forward from Rotterdam, Netherlands tallied six shots total. Five of the six were on frame. In addition, the senior offered good foot work to move the ball around the upper midfield to create opportunities in support of other Patriot chances.
Keeper
Akililu Zambataro established his role on the Patriots starting 11, pulling on the gloves in his fourth-straight match and walking off with another win in the books. Four saves on the day tacked onto the 12 notched prior to his start on Sunday to land him at 16 on the season. Zambataro averages four saves per game with a .889 save percentage.
The Cardinals best look on Zambataro in the second half came in the 54th minute after fresh substitutions were added into the mix. Concordia laced a shot on goal, initially deflected by
Nahshon Rullow but not out of harm's way. Quick reflexes by Zambataro resulted in a quick punch to get the ball out of play.
The rookie has been Coach Chris Lefevre's go-to man in net, as he recorded another 90-minute game for the Patriots. Zambataro held the opposition off the board in his afternoon effort. He recorded his third-consecutive shutout with the match, having not allowed a goal in two weeks.
The Patriot defensive unit – led by the likes of Zambataro,
Ricardo Lopes de Matos, Rullow and Pinanez – is on a stellar run having allowed only three goals in the first five games of the 2019 season. The last long defensive streak by the Patriots was in 2016 with
Ahmed Ghatwary in net over a four-game, 10-day, mid-season stretch.
Prior to the final goal of the day by van der Made,
Kelshall Alexander Jr. began a run toward the goal, getting a through ball from the backfield. Similar to Infantes' goal earlier in the week, the keeper got the save on the first shot but the defensive mid followed through to tap in the deflection.
Infantes registered his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Reis. The pass across the box shifted the goalie in the wrong direction as the Spaniard beat the keeper to the right side. Infantes is now on a three-game scoring-streak, having made a goal in each of the Patriots' wins. Reis, meanwhile, has had his foot involved in every Patriot win, charting two goals and two assists off the bench.
Mid-way through the second half, van der Made kept looking for the right opportunity to seal the hat trick, as well as points for the stat book. A minute after his second goal, the senior put his only shot of the day off target, sailing left. With 23 minutes to go he attempted to put another on but was cleanly collected by the keeper. Van der Made also offered a quick pass to Reis in the 77th minute, whose shot attempt went barely too high, knocking off the crossbar back into play before being cleared.
The Patriots out shot the Cardinals 24 to nine, 15 of which the Patriots put on frame to Concordia's four. Sunday's five goals were the second-most Cumberlands has made in a game, under the six scored in the season opener against SCAD.
The Patriots are now on a three-game winning streak since August 31, offering a 4-1-0 record this season. It marks the best five-game opening set since 2015, when the Patriots also opened the season 4-1. Sunday's win gave coach LeFevre his 25th Patriots win since elevated to the helm.
After playing as the visitor in the last four contests, Cumberlands returns to the UC Soccer Complex to face off against West Virginia Tech on Saturday, scheduled as a 2 PM afternoon affair.
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