NEWTON, Mass. – The Mount Ida College men's soccer team defended their home turf on Wednesday evening on Alumni Field by posting a 1-0 non-conference victory over the visiting Lions of Emerson College. With the win, Mount Ida (5-3) saw senior keeper Matt Pils (Monroe, Conn.) tie the school record with his 14th career shutout, which was previously held by Dan Boreham, who played for three seasons between 2002 and 2004, while Emerson dropped to 1-3-3 on the young season.
In a game where the majority of the contest was evenly matched, scoring opportunities were scarce in the opening half until junior Carlos Martinez (Chelsea, Mass.) split the back line of Emerson and found senior forward Michael Templeton (Charlestown, N.H.) on a beautiful ball that Templeton struck well toward the back post but junior keeper Carter Bowers (Gorham, ME) corralled the ball making a brilliant save to preserve the 0-0 tie going into the break.
Much like the first, the second half saw a stalemate for the first several minutes of the game before sophomore Tyler Grothusen (Ramsey, N.J.) notched his third goal of the season to give the Mustangs the only goal they would need on the night. Sophomore Elias Mejia (Freehold, N.J.) found some space in front of the Emerson net, and ripped a shot that bounced off of Bowers and right to the feet of Grothusen where he finished the ball in the lower right corner giving the Mustangs the lead.
As the remainder of the second half went on, Mount Ida's Martinez would muster up a few scoring opportunities of his own, but was never able to find the back of the net. Emerson striker Adam Halliday (Malvern, Pa.) had four shots on the night but only saw one of them on frame.
Pils recorded his fourth shutout of the season while only making one save on the night. Bowers was exceptional as well while making four saves.
Emerson held a slight advantage in shots, 9-8, with just one of those on target, while the Mustangs doubled up the Lions on corners, 4-2.
Mount Ida will continue Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday, when they travel to Nashua, N.H. to face the Raiders of Rivier University with kickoff slated for 12:00 p.m. Emerson will head to Springfield, Mass. to continue their New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) slate to face conference foe Springfield College with game time set for 12:00 p.m.