In the 79th minute of play, Wildcat freshman Edwidje Jean (Woburn, MA/Woburn) netted the go ahead goal off a deflected shot to give the visiting Johnson & Wales University men's soccer team a 2-1 win over hosting Mount Ida College. The Mustangs fall to 3-5 overall and drop their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) bid of 2009 (2-1) while the Wildcats improve to 2-6 on the year, 2-1 in conference play.
The hosts struck first in the 12th minute of play on a rocket shot from junior captain Hayato Kanesaka (Old Tappen, NJ/Northern Valley) making it 1-0 Mustangs. Kanesaka lined up a roller on a failed clear attempt off a corner kick at the top of the 18 yard box crushing it into the top right hand corner. Neither team could muster another score before the end of the half with Mount Ida leading 1-0 going into the break.
Not even five minutes into the second half the visitors finally knotted a tie off a well executed corner kick in the 49th minute. Wildcat senior Scott Kirchner (Irvine, CA/Irvine) took the free kick placing it well enough for junior Patrick McCracken (Kenilworth, NJ/David Brearly) to punch in around the goal line. This was a big moment for the Wildcats tying the score at 1-1.
Immediately following the goal, the Mustangs had a chance to regain the lead on a well fed ball into the hole. Freshman Will Daniels (Bethany, CT/Notre Dame) collected the pass and hammered a shot towards the net just wide. Daniels was outstanding all game fighting through a tough ankle injury, but just could not put a ball in the net.
In the 79th minute the Wildcats took over off an unfriendly bounce against the Mustangs. Wildcat freshman striker Matt Pagano (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) hit a shot from the left side of the net towards the back post that Mount Ida goalkeeper Steven Enright (South Kingston, RI/Prout) deflected. The deflection was caromed towards the back post where Jean stood to pop it in for the 2-1 advantage.
Mount Ida worked hard to try and tie the game back up for a bid at overtime, but there just wasn't enough time on the clock. The Mustangs fell in a tough battle to JWU 2-1 for their first conference loss of the season.
In a very physical game with the teams combining for 17 fouls (10 JWU, 7 MIC), the Mustangs had most of the offensive threat outshooting the visitors 26-16 and getting the advantage in corner kicks (8-4).
Enright had an outstanding game in net with four saves while Wildcat goalkeeper junior Joe Ferraro (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) denied nine shots.
The Mustangs will head to non-conference Daniel Webster College this coming Tuesday starting at 3:30 p.m.