SECOND HALF SURGE LIFTS ENGINEERS OVER SAINTS
Sept. 25, 2008
Somerville, Mass. - The Engineers scored four goals in the second half to give MIT a 4-1 win over Emmanuel College in non-conference men's soccer action on Thursday night. The win lifts MIT to 8-0-1 on the season, while Emmanuel falls to 3-3-1 overall. The game featured a scoreless first half and five goals within a 17 minute span in the second stanza, ending with a 4-1 final in favor of the visitors.
Emmanuel's senior goal keeper Jeffrey Boughton (Chandler, AZ) played a flawless first-half, making three saves, including stopping an Engineer penalty kick mid-way through the opening half. The Saints' defensive line, including Christopher Crowe (Boxford, MA), Kelly Louis-Charles (Orange, CT), John Cole (Dover, NH),and John Hieber (Peabody, MA) played tremendously for the opening forty-five minutes, despite MIT owning a 9-4 shot differential and a 5-0 corner kick advantage.
The game was sent into half-time knotted a 0-0. The Engineers came out of the break firing and scored just 22 seconds into the second half, when Zachary Kabelac (Nesbru, NORWAY) was assisted by Christian Therkelsen (Toledo, OH). Emmanuel retaliated five minutes later, with Gavin Molta (Southwick, MA) netting his fourth goal of the season, with an assist from Louis-Charles.
MIT struck again at 55:22, when Neil Zimmerman scored unassisted, giving the Engineers a 2-1 lead. The momentum swung to the visitors and MIT rattled off two goals in under a minute. Senior defender David Nole (Torrington, CT) was assisted by sophomore midfielder Jason Zhu (Andover, MA) at 61:47 and Zhu netted a goal of his own at 62:17, putting the Engineers up, 4-1.
Boughton totaled 5 saves in his 62 minutes for the Saints. He was replaced by sophomore Carlos Perez (Boca Raton, FL), who finished out the game for the Saints, making 3 stops and allowing 1 goal. Three keepers shared time for the Engineers, stopping two of Emmanuel's three shots on goal. The Engineers finished with a 25-6 shooting advantage over the Saints.
Emmanuel will play again on Saturday (9/27) at Mount Ida College, taking on the Mustangs in a noontime start. MIT will open up conference play at Clark University on Saturday afternoon.