On September 13, the mini-tournament of the All-Russian complex football competitions of the 2023 National Student Football League finished with the following matches – SSU against LSU and PIM named after P.A. Stolypin against SevSU.
In the first game, the teams of Saratov State University and Luhansk State University competed. The match ended with a score of 1:1. Maxim Aronov (shirt number 10) scored a goal against LSU after 29 minutes. After 2 minutes, an LSU player Artyom Yerokhin (shirt number 14) scored a return goal.
The Saratov State University team used the right to replace players five times. Aleksei Polyakov (shirt number 8) was replaced by Egor Shilov (shirt number 7). Instead of Andrei Surkov (shirt number 2), Daniil Kuzmin (shirt number 3) went to the field; Nikita Solomatin (shirt number 6) came out instead of Nikita Torgashov (shirt number 20). After a while, Dennis Shilov (shirt number 7) was replaced by Alexander Nekrylov (shirt number 12). Nikita Sevostyanov from the LSU team (shirt number 8) received a yellow card in the second time.
‘We have lost two matches and we have had one draw, in principle, we are playing well. The level of the teams is high for us, so, we play as if we are passing an exam. Our next tour will be on November 25 in Moscow. The overall impression of the tournament is positive. I would like to thank the NSFL and the volunteers. Everything is great from accommodation to travel conditions. We have gone to the Volga River and Space Explorers Park. Saratov is a wonderful city,’ Head Coach of the LSU football team Dmitrii Kurbatskii summed up.
The LSU team captain Nikita Gerasimenko (shirt number 9) appreciated the final game in the mini-tournament. ‘The games have been organised well; the teams are strong. Saratov universities play well due to the fans’ support, who help them a lot. Today, we have missed an unnecessary goal, then we equalised, but, in the end, we could not score one more goal. We have fulfilled the main task that the coach set for us. Wherever we go, we go to win. The next round is in Moscow, and our plans, of course, are to take a higher place.’
Based on the results of three matches, the SSU team have won in two matches and ended the home mini-tournament with a draw.
‘Of course, I wanted to take nine points. But, today, we were a little unlucky, we did not do what we had planned. Actually, we are happy with the result, but we wanted to win all the matches. Today, I have scored a goal, I was in the right place at the right time. A good combination was played. It is just a shame that we missed it right away. In the second time, we simply lacked the accuracy of the passes, and we began losing the strength at the end of the tournament. We had a long break in the matches, now, we are going to hold several trainings, prepare, and hope that, in the next round, we will win all the matches,’ Maxim Aronov (shirt number 10), a football player of the SSU team, commented on their plans.
‘All the players have done their best, I thank them for such an attitude to the game. During the match today, there was a little lack of struggling, I would like to see more from them. We have scored seven points in the home tournament and hold it with dignity. We will prepare for the tour in Yessentuki, where we also need to show the maximum result to get into the league of the next rank,’ the coach of the SSU team Alan Dryayev explained.
On the same day, PIM named after P.A. Stolypin and SevSU met on the field. The match ended with the victory of the Saratov team with a score of 2:0.
According to the results of home matches, SSU has risen to 3rd place in the group A. The students will play their next NSFL matches on November 9-11 in Yessentuki at the Yessentuki Arena stadium. The SSU team will meet with the teams of Kuban State University of Physical Culture, Sports, and Tourism (Krasnodar), the Smolensk State University of Sports (Smolensk), and Moscow City University (Moscow).
