In the 80th minute of play, Mount Ida College men's soccer sophomore forward Steven MacDonald (Medford, MA/Arlington Catholic) converted his second goal of the game to break a stalemate at 2-2 on a head ball into a wide open net. The Mustangs held on for the final 10 minutes to snatch a 3-2 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over visiting rival Lasell College Monday afternoon on Columbus Day.
The Mustangs, who haven't beaten the Lasers since the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) championship in 2005 winning 4-3 in penalty kicks, improve to an overall record of 5-7-0 evening a 4-4-0 in league play. The visitors fall to 6-3-3 with a conference record of 3-2-2.
The visitors got on the board first in the 22nd minute of play on a through ball that slid its way between two Mustang defenders on a feed from Laser senior Jonathan Klippert (Cumberland, ME/Greely/Thomas College). Lasell sophomore forward Mike Skelton (Conway, NH/Hebron Academy) poked a shot into the net on a tough angle for the 1-0 advantage.
The Mustangs got on the board following a hard foul in the box by the Lasers with the head official awarding a penalty kick. Mount Ida freshman Gilberto Alvarenga (Marlborough, MA/Marlborough) converted the free chance sliding a shot into the bottom right corner knotting the score at 1-1 in the 24 minute.
With less than five minutes remaining in the first stanza (40th), the visitors were awarded a direct kick from about 25 yards out on the left side of the field. Sophomore Dan Gleason (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) sent a cross into the box that bounced into a crowd of players. The ball was redirected catching Mount Ida's goalkeeper off line and bounced into the right corner untouched by anyone for the 2-1 lead heading into halftime.
Starting the second half in the 55th minute of play, MacDonald and freshman Michael Templeton (Charlestown, NH/Fall Mountain) both tried to carom a big punt by Mustang goaltender Mat Pils (Monroe, CT/Masuk) traveling three quarters of the field. The ball bounced high off of Templeton that landed at the feet of MacDonald who blasted a shot by Laser goaltender freshman Aren Moorman (Smoerset, NJ/Home School) tying the game at 2-2 for his first tally of the game.
It went back and forth for the next 25 minutes with both teams getting chances to take the lead. MacDonald eventually put the Mustangs on top for good off a throw in that was redirected by Alvarenga to MacDonald who headed in the go ahead goal for the 3-2 final.
It was a very even game with each team awarded six corner kicks and Lasell just edging the Mustangs in shots at 16-12.
Mount Ida goalkeeper Pils added four stops between the pipes while Moorman also added four saves for the Lasers.
The Mustangs head to non-league Elms College Thursday afternoon with game time slated for 4:30 p.m.