Beckmann Stonewalls Saints in Regular-Season Finale, 1-0

THE BASICS 

Score: 
Emmanuel College, 0; Regis College, 1

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (8-7-2, 5-6-1 GNAC)
Regis College Pride (7-7-2, 5-5-2 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Roberto Clemente Field  

Date: Wednesday, October 27, 2021

THE LEAD – Senior goalkeeper Freddie Beckmann (Franklin, Mass.) made a career-high 14 saves including a second-half penalty kick stop to lift the Regis College men's soccer team to a 1-0 shutout victory over host Emmanuel College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action Wednesday evening at Roberto Clemente Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Pride got on the board early with the only goal of the night just 8:32 into the action off. Junior Luke Ayotte (Cromwell, Conn.) served up a corner kick into the Saints box that found the head of first year back Federico Lavini-Ayalla (Weston, Fla.). Lavini-Ayalla headed home his second goal of the campaign to give the visitors the lead for good despite Emmanuel dominating play for much of the night.
• Emmanuel had several goal scoring chances in the opening frame to even the match, outshooting the Pride by a 10-1 margin in the stanza but Beckmann was up to task stopping all six shots on net to carry the 1-0 lead into the break.
• The Saints continued to put pressure on the Pride for the equalizer throughout the second half but Beckmann stayed strong between the pipes with several key saves along the way.
• With 11:42 to play in regulation, Regis was whistled for a handball in the penalty area resulting in a penalty kick. EC junior Alec Erskine (Coventry, Conn.), who was previously 2-for-2 on the year in PK attempts was stonewalled by Beckmann who guessed correctly with a diving save to preserve the one-goal visitor lead.
• Emmanuel kept knocking on the goal line and with 2:22 to play had another dangerous scoring chance as first year Joey Soucy (Attleboro, Mass.) headed a cross from the far side over Beckmann into the goal mouth. Senior Kyle Monaghan (Monson, Mass.) volleyed the header past Beckmann but the ball hit the crossbar and went straight down back in front of the goal. Erskine tried to poke home the rebound but Beckmann came away with the stop to thwart any threat.
• EC's last chance came with just seconds to play as junior Cole Berry (Carver, Mass.) launched a throw-in towards the Pride goal with 13 seconds left in regulation. Senior Samuel Burghardt (Gorham, Maine) headed the ball further into the box before a Regis player inadvertently headed the ball towards the back post where EC senior Robert Danielian (Watertown, Mass.) was making a goalside run. Danielian had a chance to even the score with eight seconds to play but headed the ball over the bar allowing time to expire and the Pride to walk away with the 1-0 shutout win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Saints outshot the Pride by a 26-4 margin and also won the battle of corners, 9-5.
• Beckmann improves to 5-5-2 on the year with the career-night, earning his fourth clean slate of the campaign and marking just the second time in his career he's posted double-digit save totals.
• EC keeper Vincent Conelli (West Hartford, Conn.) made two saves in a losing effort and falls to 5-6-2 overall, marking the sixth one-goal conference defeat for the senior this season.
• The road win for Regis moves the all-time series to a 2-2-1 stalemate in five career meetings.

UP NEXT

• Both squads move on to GNAC postseason play with the result as the Pride leapfrog the Saints in the standings to earn the No. 6 seed while EC dawns the No. 7 spot. Regis takes on No. 3 Johnson & Wales University on Saturday, October 30 while the Saints head to Northfield, Vt. to battle No. 2 Norwich University at 4:00 PM.