Tuesday, October 25, 2011(Newton, Massachusetts) - In the 73rd minute of play during the second half, the Mount Ida College men's soccer team took a 3-2 lead over visiting non-conference foe Roger Williams University. But the Hawks notched two tallies in the final 17 minutes of play to capture a 4-3 victory over the hosting Mustangs Tuesday afternoon in Newton, Massachusetts on senior day.
Before the contest, the Mount Ida College athletic department acknowledged four men's soccer senior's for their contributions and dedication to the program. The senior's were Chris MacKinnon (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury), Franklin McCaffrey (East Greenwich, RI/East Greenwich), Breandan Draper (Lexington, KY/Lexington Catholic), and Cody Collard (West Haven, CT/West Haven).
The Mustangs, who end their season on a high note against a very tough opponent today, finish the regular season with an overall record of 7-9-1 with a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) slate of 4-5-1. Eighth seeded Mount Ida will travel to hosting number one seeded Albertus Magnus College for GNAC post-season tournament action Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. in New Haven, Connecticut.
The visitors improve to an overall record of 10-3-5 and hold at 3-2-4 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) to finish their regular season and will head to the CCC post-season tournament extending their season.
The Mustangs got on the board first in the 24th minute of play. Freshman forward Michael Templeton (Charlestown, NH/Fall Mountain) fed a perfect through ball to sophomore Steven MacDonald (Medford, MA/Arlington Catholic) who caught day light beating Hawks goalkeeper Jon Pelloso (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug) to the left for the 1-0 advantage.
13 minutes later in the 37th minute of play a failed clear attempt by the Mustangs gave Hawks senior forward Liam Isleib (Killingworth, CT/Haddam-Killingworth) a wide open chance blasting a shot into the right corner to stalemate the game at 1-1 heading into the break.
Mount Ida struck again to regain their lead in the 46th minute of play to start the second half on an unassisted score by freshman forward Nick Rivas-Vasquez (Hamden, CT/Hamden). Vasquez beat the last defender for a one-on-one with Hawks netminder Pelloso firing a shot into the right corner for the 2-1 advantage.
Not even four minutes later, Roger Williams knotted the contest back up on a breakaway off a very well placed through ball by Hawk freshman Andrew Carlson (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) to senior Josh Boyce (Peabody, MA/Peabody). Boyce would beat Mount Ida goaltender Mat Pils (Monroe, CT/Masuk) in the left corner to stalemate the score at 2-2.
After a quiet 23 minutes offensively from both sides, the Mustangs capitalized on Alvarenga's direct kick goal. Mount Ida freshman Dishawn Miller (Bristol, CT/Bristol Eastern) ran over the ball to start the play followed by Alvarenga firing a precision shot into the left corner for the 3-2 lead in the 73rd minute.
A minute and 19 seconds later, the visitors converted another score to stalemate the contest at 3-3. Isleib threaded a pass up the left sideline between two Mount Ida defenders to wide open sophomore Daniel Caruso (Tewksbury, MA/Central Catholic). Caruso had a one-on-one with Pils who came off his line to cut the angle down. Caruso faked left from the top left of the 18 yard box sailing a shot by Pils into the top right corner tying the game at 3-3.
It went back and forth until the final five minutes arrived with the visitors regaining the advantage on an unassisted score and eventually game winner. A suspect call at the top of the 18 yard box against the Mustangs set the visitors up with a prime spot for a direct kick. Junior midfielder Billy Kissane (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury) lined up the shot and deposited the ball into the bottom right hand corner for the 4-3 advantage and ultimately the non-league victory.
It was a very tight game the whole way through with the visitors just edging Mount Ida in shots at 17-15 along with three corner kicks for each squad. There was a total of 31 fouls combined in a physical contest along with three yellow cards.
Pils played well for the Mustangs between the pipes denying nine visiting shots while Pelloso recorded three saves for the Hawks.