SAINTS HOLD OFF LASERS IN MEN'S SOCCER SHOWDOWN
Oct. 17, 2009
Newton, Mass.- It was a back-and-forth affair Saturday afternoon in GNAC men's soccer action between Lasell College and Emmanuel College, which resulted in a 2-2 double overtime tie, on Grellier Field. The officials called the game with just over three minutes left to play in the second overtime due to light conditions on the field. The Saints, who are currently in 9th place in the conference standings were able to lock up the top ranked and undefeated Lasers on Lasell's home field.
Tholemson Francios (Stoneham, Mass.) was the first Laser to score as he tore down field, receiving a cross from the right field from Kyle Cronin (Weymouth, Mass.) earning the two points at exactly the 13-minute mark.
Francois' goal gave Lasell the advantage until midway through the second half when Emmanuel finally followed that up to tie the game for the first time. At 57:04 into the game, Andres Rocha (West Orange, Conn.) tallied the crucial goal with a diving header after Dan D'Amato (Huntington, Mass.) booted the feed across the Lasers' net.
Within four minutes, Lasell had struck once more to take the lead at 2-1. This time it was Cronin who attacked on the Saint's goalkeeper Wilhelm Du Bois (Key Biscayne, Fla.). Cronin took the pass off a throw in, weaving between two defenders to drill a shot from within the six.
However, the Saints were not about to walk away without a fight. Freshman forward Kevin Shirley (Madison, Conn.) picked up a shuffling ball off Ivan Barrera's (Millis, Mass.) foot at 82:37, and connected to force the overtimes.
The first overtime passed with just three shot attempts, two for the visitors and one for the home team. With 3:22 left in the game, the officials called the game, after five total shot attempts, three of those taken by the Lasers.
Du Bois held off nine attempts by the Lasers, while Lasell's netminder, Julian Dutton (Madison, Conn.) blocked six shots from entering Lasell's goal.
Lasell remains unbeaten in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference with a 5-0-2 slate (8-3-3 overall). Emmanuel locked up the contest for their first tie of the season with a 1-5-1 GNAC and 3-11-1 overall record.
The Saints will play again on Wednesday night (10/21) at Rivier College in a 7pm start. The Lasers next challenge will be away, against Norwich University, on Wednesday, October 21st, at 3:00 p.m.
Courtesy of Lasell College Sports Information