Mount Ida College junior Taiki Otsuka (Kanagawa-Ken, Japan/Soubudai) netted two late goals to give his team a 2-1 victory, their first of the season, over Mass. Maritime Academy this Thursday. The Mustangs would improve to 1-1-1 overall while the Buccaneers drop their season opener.
The first half was very quiet with only two legitimate scoring opportunities, each team with a chance for a goal but neither could translate. They would go into the break with the score knotted at 0-0.
It looked as if the second set would be a mirror of the first, unfortunately for the Buc's, Otsuka had other plans. He would drill a direct kick from the right side of the 18 yard box into the back of the net taking the 1-0 advantage with 23 minutes to go.
MMA would not go quietly; the Buccaneers converted on a through ball that sophomore Brian Reske (Duxbury, MA/Sacred Heart) fired into the right side of the net. The score was knotted at 1-1 with 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
Otsuka seal the victory off another direct kick, this shot more difficult than the first. From 20 yards out, he would curl the ball around the Buc's wall into the left hand side of the net giving his squad the 2-1 win.
Mount Ida goaltender Brian Leighton (Turner, ME/Leavitt Area) didn't see much action only tallying one save the entire game. MMA keeper, senior Tim Meighan (East Bridgewater, MA/East Bridgewater), kept his team alive for most of the game with three solid stops.
The Mustangs will have the weekend off and begin action again this coming Tuesday, September 9 at UMass - Dartmouth starting at 7:00 p.m.