Mount Ida College freshman striker Will Daniels (Bethany, CT/Notre Dame) notched two goals including the winning goal in the 81st minute of play to give the Mustangs a 3-2 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over visiting Albertus Magnus College on a blustery Saturday afternoon in Newton, Massachusetts. The Mustangs improve to 4-7 overall, 3-1 in the GNAC while the Falcons fall to 6-5-1, 2-3 in conference play.
In a wild game from start to finish, the hosts got on the board first in the fourth minute of play. A corner kick serviced by Mount Ida freshman Ricky Oliveira (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford) ricocheted off an Albertus Magnus defender, redirecting it into the top corner of the net for an own goal. The Mustangs led after this visitor mistake by a score of 1-0.
The Falcons answered in the 16th minute of the first half on a head ball off a corner kick from the right side of the field. The free kick was deflected off the noggin of Albertus sophomore Jamal Howard (West Haven, CT/West Haven) that was flicked toward the middle of the box. Falcon freshman Steven Zapata (Hamden, CT/Hamden) popped it in with his head behind the dive of Mustang goalkeeper Steven Enright (South Kingston, RI/Prout). After knotting the match with this goal, the action was stagnant heading into the break with the score stalemated at 1-1.
In the opening of the second half at the 56th minute of play, Daniels notched his first score of the game to regain the advantage. Mustang sophomore Michael Almeida (Dartmouth, MA/Dartmouth/Bishop Stang) fed a through ball to Daniels towards the left side of the box. Daniels created some space and faked out Falcon goalkeeper, senior Gerald O'Connor (Hamden, CT/Hamden), firing a shot between the left post and O'Connor into the net. This goal gave the hosts the 2-1 lead early in the second half.
There was too much time left on the clock for the hard working Falcons to go quietly and not put up a fight. Albertus eventually answered two and a half ticks later in the 58th minute on a botched clear by the Mustangs. The Mount Ida clear attempt went bad when it was deflected past the defensive end line at midfield giving Falcon speedy forward Howard a one-on-one. He capitalized sneaking a shot past the dive of Enright to the left side of the net, tying the score for the second time during the contest at 2-2.
Just when it looked as if the game would be heading towards extra time, Daniels came through again for the game winner. The Falcons had trouble clearing the ball out of their zone giving Daniels an opportunity to create pressure. He stole the ball and headed towards the net firing a well placed shot past the dive of O'Connor for the game winner and the 3-2 GNAC victory.
In a very physical and emotional game, there were four cautions for flagrant fouls and a red card that was issued after two yellow cards. The game was very even the entire 90 minutes with the Mustangs edging the Falcons in shots (22-21) while the Falcons outdid the host 7-5 in corners.
Mustang goaltender Enright was outstanding the entire game making a handful of very important saves that preserved the victory for Mount Ida denying seven Falcon shots. Falcon keeper O'Connor also had a great game with a couple of very difficult saves stopping two balls.
The Mustangs will host GNAC defending champion Norwich University this coming Monday starting at 3:30 p.m. Mount Ida lost to the Cadets in the semi-final round of the GNAC post-season tournament last year 5-0.