Worcester, Mass. – September 26, 2009 – Eric Stalsburg’s goal in the 72nd minute proved to be the difference as the Springfield College men’s soccer team defeated WPI, 1-0, for its first New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory of the season.
The Pride improves its record to 3-4-1, 1-1 in league play while the Engineers drop just their second game of the season to fall to 7-2, 1-1.
Stalsburg broke a scoreless tie with 18:30 to go in the game, taking a feed from Jon Principato and directing a blast into the WPI net from just outside the box.
WPI controlled play in the first half of the match, outshooting Springfield 7-3 in the opening half and taking four corner kicks to zero for the Pride. The Engineers were unable to find the back of the net, however, and went into intermission deadlocked at 0-0.
The Engineers outshot the Pride in the second half as well, 9-4, but Springfield goalkeeper Chris Walton continued to be up to the task, making a game-high seven saves. WPI keeper Paul Moan made three saves.
Tommy Zajac paced the WPI attack with three shots, while Thomas Cucinotta, Mike Ford and Evan Demers-Peel each had two shots. The Pride had seven different players register a shot in the game.
Cucinotta also aided the WPI defensive effort when he cleared a ball following a wild scramble midway through the first half.
Springfield will return to action on Wednesday evening when it hosts Amherst, which is currently ranked second in the country, at 7:00 pm
