NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida College had their nine-game home winning streak snapped and, for the second straight season, bowed out of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer tournament in the semifinal round after the #6 seed Albertus Magnus College upset the Mustangs 3-2 on Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Field.
The second-seeded Mustangs (12-6-1) conclude a campaign that saw them win the third most games in program history, and the most since the 2000 season. Mount Ida's GNAC record of 7-1-1 was the best conference mark ever at the school, and along the way the Mustangs ripped off a seven game unbeaten streak and posted a 9-2 home record, and a 4-1-1 record in overtime games.
Senior Carlos Martinez (Chelsea, Mass.) became the program's all-time leading goal scorer on Wednesday, scoring his 27th career goal in the 63rd minute to bring the Mustangs back to a 3-2 deficit, but Mount Ida couldn't chase the equalizer over the last half-hour despite several great attempts.
Albertus Magnus junior Alex Zapata's (Hamden, Conn.) team-leading 10th goal of the year in the 59th minute would be the eventual game-winner, as he took a pass from Justyn Broderick (Orange, Conn.) and slotted past Mustang sophomore Riley Ford (Guilderland, N.Y.), who made two saves in the loss.
The Mustangs fell behind by a pair of goals in the first 35:00, and could never pull themselves back level with Albertus Magnus (11-8), who will make their third ever appearance in the GNAC championship game on Saturday.
Falcons junior Matt Mueller (Cheshire, Conn.) put the visitors in front when he got his foot to the end of a corner kick taken by fellow junior Alexis Garcia (West Haven, Conn.). The ball came off the underside of the crossbar and appeared to be cleared off the line by the Mustang defense, but the linesman ruled that it had come down inside of the goal line, giving Mueller his fifth goal of the year and the Falcons a 1-0 lead 12:22 into the game.
That advantage doubled just over twenty minutes later when Matt Stoll (Shelton, Conn.) fired home a loose ball inside the box for his first goal of the year after an Albertus free kick.
Freshman Alexi Flores (Central Falls, R.I.) got the home team back in the game six minutes after Stoll's strike when he hit home a deflected ball past Falcons sophomore Griffin Volta (Orange, Conn.). It was Flores's fifth goal of the year, and it sent the teams to the break with Albertus Magnus clinging to a 2-1 advantage.
Despite meager 10-9 and 9-8 edges in each half in shots for Mount Ida, the Mustangs had more chances in the game, particularly in the second half when they pushed up and tried to find the equalizer.
Flores hit the crossbar on a free-kick that would have tied the game just a minute before the Falcons went back down the field and took a 3-1 lead through Zapata's strike.
After Martinez's record-breaking goal, where he outran the Albertus Magnus defense and then got the ball to run past Volta and into the back of the net, the Mustangs continued to press, but couldn't net a third goal.
Jordain Williams (Colchester, Vt.) and Nick Vreeland (Berlin, Conn.) each had clear header chances off of corner kicks in the final ten minutes, but both were directed right into the hands of Volta.
The sophomore keeper made seven saves and improved to 8-5 between the pipes for the Falcons.
Mount Ida lost just two home games this season – their first game of the year, a 2-0 defeat to Roger Williams, and their last, to the Falcons in the conference semifinals, where this was Mount Ida's third appearance since joining the GNAC in 2007.
Martinez and freshman Juan Brenes (Santo Domingo, D.R.) end the year tied for the team lead with nine goals apiece, while Williams and Flores combined for ten assists in their rookie seasons.