SAINTS' TOURNEY HOPES CRUMBLE WITH LOSS TO MUSTANGS
Oct. 29, 2008
Newton Centre, Mass. - The Emmanuel Men's Soccer Team were faced with a must-win situation on Wednesday afternoon, when the Saints traveled to Mount Ida College for their last regular season game. Emmanuel's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament hopes hinged on a victory over the Mustangs. With the score knotted at 1-1 in the 62nd minute, Mount Ida freshman Ty Taylor (South Africa) headed in the go ahead goal off a cross from senior Matt Gill (Winfield, KS) eventually giving the Mustangs a 3-1 victory over the Saints.
The Mustangs (8-5-4, 5-3-1 GNAC), who have secured the fourth seed in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament, will host Suffolk University this coming Saturday at home at 3:30 p.m.. With the loss, the Saints were knocked out of contention for a playoff bid and end the year at 3-11-2, 1-6-2 in conference play.
The Mustangs gained the lead early in the first half off a cross from the right flank by Jean Demorcy (Jersey City, NJ), which senior Carmelo Bello (Rocky Hill, CT) one timed off the back post into the net for his first goal of the season. Mount Ida took the quick 1-0 advantage in the 11th minute. The Saints answered 16 minutes later on a bang-bang play off a threaded pass from sophomore John Hieber (Peabody, MA). Junior Michael Evans (Yarmouth, ME) pounded a one-timer pass the dive of Mustang keeper Kevin DosSantos (Cumberland, RI). The teams would then head into the break knotted at 1-1.
Mount Ida came alive in the 62nd minute, when Taylor's goal gave the Mustangs an outright 2-1 advantage and ultimately the victory. The Mustangs added another marker in the 83rd minute off a corner kick taken by senior Brandon Chuba (Wallingford, CT), which was headed into the left corner by freshman Chris MacKinnon (Sudbury, MA), good for his first goal in a Mustang uniform.
Mount Ida split time between the keepers, each one getting a half a piece. DosSantos stopped 4 shots while senior captain Brian Leighton (Tuner, ME) denied two. Emmanuel's sophomore goaltender Carlos Perez (Boca Raton, FL), kept his team alive for a while, stopping seven Mount Ida shots on goal. The Mustangs out-shot the visitors 21-9. There were no cautions in a very tame match for both sides.