On a frigid Thursday afternoon, the Mount Ida College men's soccer team dropped a heartbreaking Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) loss to neighboring rival Lasell College, 2-1, in Newton, Massachusetts. The Mustangs fall to 5-8 overall, 4-2-0 in the GNAC while the Lasers improve to 8-3-2 and have yet to lose a GNAC contest at 5-0-1.
In an extremely emotional contest with each squad battling for the first place spot in the GNAC standings, the Mustangs jumped out to an early lead in the 21st minute of the first half. Mount Ida freshman flanker Matt Palatino (Ludlow, MA/Ludlow) broke free on the left side of the box and crossed a perfect pass to the head of junior Billy Beauzile (Brooklyn, NY/Samuel J. Tilden) tucking it into the left corner for the 1-0 advantage.
The Lasers had numerous opportunities to tie the score in the second half, but solid goalkeeper play by Mustang sophomore Steven Enright (South Kingston, RI/Prout) preserved the 1-0 lead for Mount Ida. The Mustangs started to look a bit sluggish towards the end of the first, but contained the 1-0 advantage going into the break.
After a stalemated opening in the second half, the Lasers finally struck in the 62nd minute of play. A deflected cross into the front of the net by Lasell senior Robby Gonzalez (Palmdale, CA/Highland) set up a wide open Dan Hatch (Avon, MA/Avon) who fired a shot past the dive of Enright into the left corner tying the score at 1-1.
The Mustangs lost the momentum after the Lasers first goal of the game giving the visitors an opportunity to net another score. In the 70th minute of play, the Lasers stuck again off a failed clear attempt by Mount Ida. Another deflection set up the visitors giving Lasell junior Eric Swahlan (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) an open net. Swahlan crushed a shot into the left corner of the net giving the visitors a commanding 2-1 lead with no answer from the Mustangs.
Mount Ida could not get another opportunity to score for the remaining 20 minutes of the game preserving the 2-1 victory for the Lasers.
Mustang keeper Enright was outstanding the entire game denying 10 shots while Laser goaltender senior Julian Dutton (Madison, CT/Daniel Hand) stopped six Mount Ida shots giving up only one goal. The visitors out shot Mount Ida 26-13, doubling the Mustangs total on the day.
Mount Ida falls to third place behind Lasell and St. Joseph's College (ME) in the GNAC standings and will travel to play the Monks this coming Saturday starting at 3:30 p.m.