Saturday's Men's College Roundup

Stonehill, Bentley Win; SNHU, Franklin Pierce Fall in OT

August 30, 2009

EASTON, Mass. -- Stonehill College sophomore Michael White (Lisbon, N.H.) fired in a volley with 1:25 left in the first overtime to lift the Skyhawks to a 1-0 victory over Concordia (N.Y.) College in non-conference men�s soccer action on Day 2 of the 2009 Stonehill Skyhawks Kickoff Classic at W.B. Mason Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Junior goalkeeper Brandon McFarlane (Norwich, Conn.) made one second half save to preserve Stonehill�s first shutout of the season (the third of his career). McFarlane and the Skyhawks have yet to surrender a goal through two matches in the run of play, yielding just a penalty kick goal to Felician College Friday.

Junior goalkeeper Will Camerlingo shined in goal for a second-straight day for Concordia, posting six saves (five in the second half) for a Clippers squad that was down to just 11 dressed players due to injury and suspensions. Stonehill finished with a 13-2 advantage in shots for the match, including a 9-1 margin after halftime.

White�s goal came out of nothing, catching Camerlingo off guard in the 99th minute. Stonehill junior Stephen Day (North Haven, Conn.) slid a pass from the left flank to White, who wheeled and fired the volley towards goal while facing the near touchline from 24-yards out, with the ball beating Camerlingo to his right inside the left post.

Stonehill had the better of the scoring chances all day and appeared to get the break they were looking for when the Skyhawks were awarded a penalty kick in the 89th minute after Camerlingo tripped up a Skyhawks player inside the 18. But senior Shaun Keeley (Woburn, Mass./Woburn) lifted his penalty just over the crossbar to keep the match scoreless and headed for overtime.

Bentley 3, New Haven 2

WEST HAVEN, Conn. -- Sophomore Eric Heuze scored just over nine minutes into the game and senior Harris Smriko had two assists as Bentley University defeated New Haven, 3-2 Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 men�s soccer action. It was the season-opener for both teams.

Heuze gave Bentley a 1-0 at the 9:14 mark after taking a cross from Jared Joaquin (North Andover, Mass.). Freshman Weston Zeiner (North Granby, Conn.) then found the back of the net in his first collegiate game in the 31st minute. After Bentley won a corner kick, Smriko delivered a ball to Zeiner that he headed in, giving the Falcons a 2-0 advantage.

Just after halftime, New Haven got on the board thanks to a goal from Roberto Novoa at 50:02. Bentley hung on to its one-goal lead until senior Jimmy Alexander (Hanover, N.H.) put the Falcons up two goals after heading in a ball off an indirect free kick from Smriko in the 74th minute.

Just over five minutes later, Steven Gennuso (Middletown, Conn.) got the Chargers to within 3-2 with a goal in the 79th minute, but the hosts couldn�t find the equalizer the rest of the way, giving Bentley the win.

Dowling 2, SNHU 1 (OT)

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Lamine Traore scored 1:47 into the first overtime period to give second-ranked Dowling College a 2-1 win over No. 11 Southern New Hampshire University in men�s soccer Saturday afternoon. Both teams saw their record go to 1-1 on the season.

On the game-winner, Dowling�s Stefan Draskovic, standing 10 yards out, slid a pass past an SNHU defender to Traore, who was all alone against Penmen keeper Sean Lambert (Rehoboth, Mass.). Traore would fire from five yards past Lambert into the right side of the goal.

The Penmen took a 1-0 lead just 3:05 into the match. Danny Hernandez (Salem, N.H.) lobbed a ball to freshman Christian Rodriguez (Manchester, N.H.). The Manchester Memorial product lofted a ball from just outside the 18 and caught Dowling keeper Mads Aastrup off his line, finding the far left corner of the goal.

The Golden Lions tied the game in the 65th minute when Harald Gundhus bent a free kick around a wall of SNHU defenders at the top of the box and snuck the ball inside the near left post.

Just after its first goal of the game, Dowling was forced to play a man down when Juan Vargas picked up his second yellow card of the afternoon. Southern New Hampshire appeared to take a 2-1 lead with 15 minutes to play when Rodriguez found the back of the net, but the goal was waved off as the Penmen were offside.

Aastrup turned aside six shots for Dowling en route to the win, while Lambert made three stops. The Golden Lions outshot the Penmen 18-14 and generated an 11-5 edge in corner kicks, including 10 corners in the first half.

C.W. Post 1, Franklin Pierce 0 (OT)

RINDGE, N.H. -- Freshman forward Betim Bajrami scored the only goal of the game 6:46 into overtime on Saturday afternoon to give C.W. Post a 1-0 victory over the No. 16 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University men�s soccer team in non-conference action at Sodexo Field.

With the wet field conditions, the teams slogged through a scoreless first half, with C.W. Post collecting an 8-5 edge in the shots department. The Ravens had a good opportunity to open the scoring in the 23rd minute on a free kick from outside the top of the penalty area by freshman midfielder Samuel Kelley (Bedford, N.H.). C.W. Post graduate student goalkeeper Shane Flanagan was equal to the task, however, and punched the ball over the crossbar to keep the match scoreless.

Just like the first half, the second half was scoreless as well. In the 60th minute, senior forward Sean Ahern (Somers, Conn.) had an opportunity from the right side that was turned aside by Flanagan. The Ravens threatened again in the 76th minute when Kelley slipped behind Flanagan, who had come off his line in an attempt to play the ball. The C.W. Post defense challenged the shot from the top of the penalty area and Kelley missed just outside the left post.

C.W. Post�s best opportunity of the second half came in the 78th minute when Bajrami got loose on the left side and lifted a shot towards the far post. Franklin Pierce sophomore goalkeeper Alexander Pilitsis (Brunswick, Maine) deflected the shot, which then hit the crossbar and caromed out of play.

The game remained scoreless into overtime, when C.W. Post was awarded a free kick at the top of the 18-yard box in the 97th minute. David Carlsson touched the ball to his right to Bajrami, who beat Pilitsis to the upper right corner to give the Pioneers the victory.

Franklin Pierce outshot C.W. Post 12-1 in the second half and finished the game with 17-10 edge after the Pioneers took the only shot of the extra session. The Ravens attempted nine corner kicks to four for C.W. Post.

Flanagan stopped all seven shots sent his way to post the clean sheet and earn the victory (1-1) in net for C.W. Post. Pilitsis stopped six of the seven shots taken on his cage, but took the loss (1-1) for Franklin Pierce.

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS: Blink Del.icio.us Digg
Furl Google Simpy Spurl Technorati Y! MyWeb