The Mount Ida College men's soccer team, who had an impressive stretch the past five games going 4-0-1, snapped the streak against hosting Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) member St. Joseph's College (ME) losing 3-1 Saturday in Standish, Maine. The Mustangs, who will be the eighth seed in the league post-season tournament after winning only one game last season, fall to an overall record of 7-8-1 with a GNAC slate of 4-5-1.
Mount Ida will travel to New Haven, Connecticut Saturday afternoon to take on number one seeded Albertus Magnus College with game time TBA. The Mustangs fell to the Falcons 2-0 back on October 5.
The Mustangs struck first on a well-executed corner kick in the 18th minute. Sophomore Carlos Rojas (Stamford, CT/Stamford) took the corner and found freshman Michael Templeton (Charlestown, NH/Fall Mountain) with a perfect ball in the box. The first-year forward finished the play with a one-timed header into the top left corner of the net to provide his side with an early advantage.
The Monks' 1-0 deficit remained until early in the second half when Zach Johnson (Westbrook, ME) scored his team-leading 12th goal of the season off a rebound. After a Mount Ida foul, Dan McIntyre (Sparta, NJ) was awarded a free kick from about 40 yards out. His shot took an awkward short-hop that was not handled cleanly by Mustangs keeper Matt Pils (Monroe, CT/Masuk) and Johnson was in the proper place to tap the ball into an empty net.
Junior back Jack LaFreniere (Alton, NH) provided the hosts with a 2-1 lead two minutes later with his first goal of the season. A forward the last two seasons for St. Joe's, LaFreniere hailed back to his sniper days when he toed in the winner after pursuing a loose ball in the goalmouth.
Johnson proceeded to earn his second brace of the season with an insurance goal at the 78:15 mark. Saint Joseph's, which received excellent play in the middle all game, moved the ball quickly upfield in transition to find the second-year standout, who worked his way through one defender and deeked another before beating Pils, who left his post to challenge, with a soft shot to the middle of the net.
SJC keeper Kenny Grade (Hampton, NH/St Thomas Aquinas) posted four saves, while Pils also recorded four stops in a losing effort.