Wednesday, September 7, 2022 New York, NY
On Friday, the FIT Tigers traveled to Holyoke, MA for the Cougar Classic Tournament and returned undefeated after their first two games this season! Their first game of the weekend on Saturday vs. Holyoke Community College was a 4-0 win. The most impressive part of the victory was the defensive effort and accomplishing a shutout without the team's starting GK who was sidelined with an illness. Stepping up in goal to share the responsibilities were freshmen Emma Rathburn who handled the first half while fellow freshmen Hailey Wolfman and Jieun Yoon held the Cougars scoreless during the second half. Offensively, Michelle Muratore started off the game strong, scoring the first goal followed by Lissandra Micera to bring the score to 2-0 by halftime. After coming out of net, Emma Rathburn scored the third and fourth goals of the game in the second half to secure a 4-0 win for the Tigers!
The second game of the tournament resulted in a 1-1 draw on Sunday vs. Southern Maine Community College. Once again, a very strong defensive effort and outstanding goalkeeping by Emma Rathburn in the first half and Hailey Wolfman in the second half led the team. Lissandra Micera scored the Tiger's only goal early in the first half which held almost the whole game until late in the second half when the Tigers, who had been giving their all the entire weekend, finally wore down just enough to let a goal slip by.
Overall, the team had a very successful weekend playing soccer and growing closer as a group who returned a lot stronger from the experience. Additionally the win on Saturday vs Holyoke CC was a special one for the team, marking their first season-opening victory since 2013 and first-year head Coach Hatem Gabr's first win as an FIT Tiger which took place during his very first game as a college coach!
The team looks forward to their next non-region test of the year at NJCAA Region 19 perennial powerhouse Rowan College South Jersey - Gloucester (Sewell, NJ) at 1pm on Saturday, September 10th. GO TIGERS!! 
