WORCESTER, Mass. – Visiting Mount Ida scored a 1-0 victory over Clark University on Wednesday night at Granger Soccer Complex to claim the program's first win over an opponent from the New England Men's and Women's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).
The Mustangs had never played a NEWMAC foe prior to 2013, but their meeting with Clark was the third such instance this season, after already playing games against Babson and newcomers Emerson. The NEWMAC historically boasts some of the strongest programs both academically and athletically both in New England and across the country.
Senior Joe Casey (Merrimack, Mass.) got his first start of the year and made four saves in recording his first shutout of the season. For the Mustangs, it was the fifth time they have kept a clean sheet this year, already four more shutouts than last year's total.
"Joe has that composure as a senior to come in and play right away and gives us some great leadership off the bench," said assistant coach Matt Gill.
Ryan Gray (Bayport, N.Y.) scored for the second straight game in the 14th minute, which provided all of the offense that Mount Ida would need.
Junior Michael Templeton (Charlestown, N.H.) found a wide open Gray just outside the 18-yard box and Gray sent a high, hard shot that sailed into the upper left corner of the net, just past the outstretched arms of Clark netminder Alfonso Alvarez (San Salvador, El Salvador).
"We've been working a lot on how we can go forward, and we knew if we could get some balls over the top we could be dangerous," said Gill. "Ryan Gray comes inside and takes a nice shot to score a goal, and we're really happy with that."
The Scarlet and White had an excellent opportunity to even the score in the 40th minute when Vaske Gjino (Worcester, Mass.) slipped a wonderful ball by a pair of defenders and found a streaking Oscar Zapata (Lima, Peru). Zapata's low shot got past Casey, but it flew past the left post and out of play.
Clark nearly had the equalizer just a few minutes into the second half when a ball into the box found Max Lopez(Oakdale, N.Y.) but his header attempt went high over the crossbar.
The Mustangs held a 14-11 edge in shots and a small advantage (4-3) on corner kicks. Alvarez turned back seven shots and made several key plays on crosses out in front of the goal for the Cougars.
With the win, the Mustangs improve to 5-5-1, while the Cougars drop to 3-8-1 and have now been shutout in four games this season.
"This was a quality NEWMAC opponent and we were coming off of a big emotional game against Lasell, so it's great to get this win, and now we feel like we have some momentum going into this big weekend," said Gill.
That weekend starts with a key Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game against Albertus Magnus at 1:00 pm at Alumni Field on Saturday, and will continue with a Columbus Day game against Johnson & Wales on Monday.
The Cougars return to league play on Saturday as well, when they will host NEWMAC rival Babson.