Box Score September 20, 2014 - Springfield, Mass. - Despite a hard fought match, the Springfield College men's soccer program suffered a heart-breaking 2-1 double-overtime loss to No. 21 Wheaton College in both team's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) season opener on Saturday afternoon at Brock-Affleck Field.
At the 7:49 mark of the second overtime period, a corner sent in by senior midfielder Luke Finkelstein (Peabody, Mass.) bounced through the box, and after a blocked shot by a pair of Springfield defenders, senior forward Travis Blair (Hastings, N.Y.) fired a shot that deflected off of a Springfield defender and bounced off the right post and into the back of the net to seal the victory for the Lyons.
With the loss, the Pride suffer its first set back of the season, falling to 2-1-3 on the season and 0-1 in NEWMAC play, while Wheaton remains unbeaten and holds a 7-0-1 record, while getting off to a 1-0 start in the NEWMAC. The Lyons held a 17-11 advantage in shots, while both sides produced four corner kicks.
Junior goalkeeper Billy Schmid (Wethersfield, Conn.) posted a game-high five saves in the match, whil David Sorkenn (River Edge, N.J.) posted a pair of his own.
At the 19:56 mark of the opening half, Scott Enman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) crossed a ball from the right corner of the field, where Noah Kossoff (New York, N.Y.) showed off his athleticism by heading a ball over the outstretched hands of Schmid to give the Lyons a 1-0 advantage.
With just under nine minutes remaining in the first,
Joe LaBella (Holliston, Mass.) gained possession of the ball in the Springfield defensive end and began to push the ball up the field when he found junior forward
A.J. Vico (Plymouth, Mass.) on the left side, who carried the ball up the field after drawing a Wheaton defender to him, centered a pass back to LaBella who fired a shot into the back of the net to even the score at one goal apiece.
Springfield will be back on Brock Affleck tomorrow, as it will host Mitchell College at 12 p.m.
