NEWTON, Mass. – A pair of goals two minutes apart in the second half and a second straight clean sheet spurred Mount Ida College to a 2-0 victory over Regis College in their men's soccer home opener on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Field.
The Mustangs have now posted shutouts in each of their first two games and improve to 2-0, while Regis dropped to 0-1 on their first time out this season.
Junior Carlos Martinez (Chelsea, Mass.) earned his first points of the year with a goal and an assist, and he set up Nick Rivas-Vasquez (Hamden, Conn.) for the eventual game-winner in the 54th minute.
The senior striker notched his first goal of the year when he finished on the ground after corralling the ball from Martinez's corner kick, of which Mount Ida earned six in the game.
Martinez, who had six shots on the day, doubled the hosts advantage two minutes later when he took a perfect through-ball from senior Oscar Lemus (Revere, Mass.) and beat the last defender with a nifty move before slotting the ball past Calderon.
"We have a great understanding between the two of us where and when the ball should be played," said Martinez of his connection with Lemus, which started in a league before they came to Mount Ida. "I don't even have to call for the ball there. He knows where to put it, and it was a great ball."
The hosts had the better of the chances for much of the game, outshooting their opponents 14-6, though they only forced three saves from Regis sophomore Manny Calderon (Bristol, Conn.).
Martinez was nearly in free on goal just seven and a half minutes into the game when midfielder Elias Mejia (Freehold, N.J.) found him in space, but Calderon did well to step up and cut off the ball.
Six and a half minutes later, Mount Ida senior goalie Mat Pils (Monroe, Conn.) made a big save on Regis sophomore Dillon Lanctot (Somersworth, N.H.), who burst in from the right side. Pils then started the counter attack and created a scoring chance at the other end through Martinez, which led to another corner.
The save was the only required of Pils on the day to earn his second shutout in as many starts and keep his goals-against total spotless on the season.
Martinez nearly opened the scoring with twenty-four minutes left in the first half, but his shot struck the crossbar. The Pride were unlucky themselves, as they could have gone into the break with a lead, but sophomore Trevor Hamilton (Winchester, Mass.) hit the far post with his shot under three minutes from halftime.
Lemus nearly got on the score-sheet himself thirteen minutes into the second half, as he tried to chip the ball over Calderon, who reached up to snag the shot out of the air.
The Mustangs will hit the road for their next non-conference affair, a Thursday night trip to Roger Williams for a 7:00 pm game.
Regis will look to get their first win of the season on Wednesday when they welcome Emerson in for a 5:00 pm home opener.