NEWTON, Mass. – A pair of goals in each half helped Mount Ida men's soccer defeat Newbury College 4-1 in non-conference action on Thursday afternoon at Alumni Field.
Sophomore Tyler Grothusen (Ramsey, N.J.) scored twice in the first half, including the best goal of the year to date, a laser from thirty yards out that put the Mustangs 2-0 in front with just under 13 minutes until halftime.
Freshman Robert McClafferty (Abington, Mass.) and senior Dakota Howell (Mesa, Ariz.) tallied their first goals of the year after the break to help lift Mount Ida to a 4-2 record and their second straight win.
The Green and White outshot their opponents by a 23-12 margin, and had the better of the scoring chances throughout the game. They cashed in seven minutes into the game when the rebound of a shot by Luke Pugsley (Milton, Mass.) fell to Grothusen, who nestled it into the back of the net for his first goal of the year.
Mount Ida senior goalie Mat Pils (Monroe, Conn.) made five saves in the victory, but was unable to secure his fourth shutout of the season when Newbury was awarded a penalty kick, which was converted by Milton Ricaurte (Barranquilla, Colombia). It was Ricaurte's second goal of the year, and it brought the Nighthawks back to within a goal with over twenty minutes still to play.
McClafferty helped give the hosts some breathing room in the 76th minute when he played a one-two with Nick Rivas-Vasquez (Hamden, Conn.) and then slammed the return ball past junior keeper Antonios Tran (Chelsea, Mass.), who made seven stops in the loss for the Nighthawks.
Howell capped the scoring with another brilliant goal, as he got on the end of a perfect ball played through the defensive line by Carlos Martinez (Chelsea, Mass.). Howell streaked in behind the defense on the left side and picked the ball out of the air with a sliding finish.
Senior Michael Templeton (Charlestown, N.H.) had several good chances to get on the score-sheet for the hosts but came up unlucky on four shots, most notably when his attempt bounced up over Tran's head and off the cross-bar in the 59th minute.
Pils made a sprawling save on the ground on a shot by German Canales (Lynn, Mass.) early in the contest to keep the teams scoreless.
Newbury held a 6-5 corner kick advantage, and stayed even with the Mustangs in shots in the first half (6-6), but Mount Ida's attack pounded out 17 attempts on goal in the final forty-five minutes.
The Mustangs hit the road for their second Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game of the year on Saturday. They will travel to Providence, R.I. to meet Johnson & Wales at 3:30 pm, with each team sporting a 1-0 conference mark.
Newbury (1-7-1) will take the weekend off before meeting another GNAC side when they host Emmanuel on Tuesday at 3:30 pm.