Saturday, September 15, 2012 (Newton, Massachusetts) - After a momentum building Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) win Wednesday over visiting Suffolk University (2-1), the Mount Ida College men's soccer team would drop their second league bid of the season to the hands of St. Joseph's College (ME) on Alumni Field falling 2-1 in dramatic fashion Saturday afternoon on a couple of questionable calls on the field that went in the favor of the Monks.
The Mustangs fall to an overall record of 1-3-1 with a conference slate of 1-2-0 while the visitors capture their first GNAC contest of the season improving to 2-4-1 for the year, 1-2-0 in league action.
Mount Ida got on the board early off an impressive goal by sophomore midfielder Dishawn Miller (Bristol, CT/Bristol Eastern) for his first of the season on a through ball fed by freshman flanker Carlos Martinez (Chelsea, MA/Chelsea) for the 1-0 lead. Martinez threaded a pin pointed pass between defenders to Miller who deposited a shot into the lower right corner for the advantage in the ninth minute of play.
The match remained very tight through the rest of the first half with very physical play on both sides with a game that featured a combined 33 fouls (20-SJME, 13-MIC). Each squad had their chances to net a score but neither could convert until the 63th minute of play in the second stanza.
Monk senior midfielder Teddy Palmer (Scarborough, ME/Scarborough) put the visitors on the board knotting the score at 1-1 off shot that caught the bottom of the cross bar deflecting straight down to the end line. It looked as if the Mustangs would be saved by rounded metal but after a discussion from the head official and linesman the decision was to award the visitors the score stalemating the game 1-1.
Mount Ida was on tilt, shell shocked from the unfortunate turn of events that did not go in their favor sending the game into an extra frame.
Five and a half minutes into the first overtime St. Joseph's (ME) netted the golden goal for the victory on an unfortunate deflection that trickled into the left corner on an unassisted bid from freshman midfielder Ralph Houanche (Portland, ME/Portland) for the 2-1 GNAC win.
Mount Ida goaltender Matt Pils (Monroe, CT/Masuk), who was kicked in the face trying to save a bounding ball in the box breaking his nose in the process, made six stops. Monk freshman net minder Scott Benner (Post Falls, ID/Post Falls) would deny three Mustang shots respectively.
Coming up this Wednesday, Mount Ida will host non-league Regis College (MA) under the lights on Alumni Field with game time slated for 7:00 p.m. That same day the Monks travel to non-conference Maine-Farmington starting at 4:30 p.m.