CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Mount Ida and Lesley men's soccer program had played over 200 minutes of scoreless action, dating back to last season's meeting, when Michael Templeton (Charlestown, N.H.) scored with just under ten minutes remaining in regulation to lift the Mustangs to a 1-0 victory over the Lynx on Friday afternoon in the first game of the year for both teams.
Templeton rose to connect with a header from a corner kick delivered by sophomore JT Yager (Ballston Spa, N.Y.), who supplied a beautiful ball into the box and earned his first assist of the year and the first point of his collegiate career. It was the 10th corner of the game for the Mustangs, who finished the game with an 11-7 advantage in that department, though they were outshot 9-7 at Edward Field.
The victory for Mount Ida was the first against Lesley since 2008. The teams have met in each of the last eight seasons, and played to a draw in both 2012 and 2013.
Mustang goalie Mat Pils (Monroe, Conn.) made two stops to earn the shutout, the tenth of his career. Pils had seven clean sheets a year ago.
Junior Chase Donley (Elizabethtown, Pa.) registered one save and was charged with the loss in between the pipes for the Lynx.
The two teams exchanged scoring chances early. In the 8th minute, Lesley sophomore Erik Johansen (West Harrison, N.Y.) put his head on a ball off a corner kick from senior Jordan Santos (Middlebury, Conn.), but the attempt sailed just wide of the far post.
The Mustangs responded in the 17th minute, when senior Oscar Lemus (Revere, Mass.) sent a curling blast from 20 yards-out but Donley made an outstanding save, diving to his right and sending the ball out of bounds. A shot by Mustang senior Ryan Gray (Bayport, N.Y.) sailed high over the cross bar on the ensuing corner kick.
Lemus nearly put the Mustangs ahead minutes before the close of the first half as he forced a turnover in the Lesley defensive end and rifled a shot from the top of the box that skimmed the outside of the far post, leaving the match knotted at 0-0 after the first 45-minutes.
The Mustangs, who were outshot by a 7-3 margin in the first half, held possession throughout most of the second and kept the offensive pressure of the Lesley backline. It appeared the visitors took a 1-0 lead in the 62nd minute when a free kick sailed into the back of the Lesley net, but the goal was disallowed due to an offensive foul called in the box, leaving the game scoreless.
Templeton's goal came on the second of two consecutive corner kicks for the Mustangs as he jumped above a line of Lynx defenders to get his head on the ball, putting the ball into the upper right corner for the game's only tally.
This is the second straight year in which the Mustangs have gone on the road for their opening game and secured a 1-0 victory, beating Regis by the same score a year ago. Mount Ida is also now unbeaten in their last three opening games, as 2012 saw them and Lesley play to a 1-1 draw in Newton.
This year's home opener will feature the Pride, as Regis comes to town on Sunday afternoon for a 1:00 pm affair at Alumni Field.
The Lynx will return to Edward Field on Wednesday, September 3rd when they welcome Eastern Nazarene at 8:00p as part of their five-match home-stand to open the season.