Tuesday's Men's College Roundup

Bentley, Providence Win; UVM Falls to Siena

September 2, 2009

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Bentley University improved to 2-0 in the Northeast-10 with a 4-0 victory over AIC Tuesday afternoon in the home opener for the men’s soccer team.

Four different players scored goals, highlighted by senior Jimmy Alexander (Hanover, N.H.) and sophomore Eric Heuze scoring their second goals of the season in the first half.

With six points in its first two conference games, Bentley has its best start to conference play since 2006, when they earned four points out of their first three games.

As was the case in Saturday’s win over New Haven, Bentley scored early, with Alexander netting the game’s first goal in the 12th minute. Senior Jared Joaquin (North Andover, Mass.) chipped a long ball over the AIC defense to the feet of Alexander, who broke in free on net and beat Yellow Jackets goalie Ryan Brooks-Newton for a goal.

Just under four minutes later Heuze found the back of the net. After Joaquin took a shot that went wide, Bentley won back possession of the ball, which found its way to Heuze. From 20 yards away, he fired a shot that beat a diving Brooks-Newton low and to the right, giving Bentley a 2-0 advantage just 16 minutes into the contest.

The Falcons were able to score once more before the end of the half, with senior Adam Kilpatrick scoring in the 35th minute. Freshman Jimmy Tully (Dracut, Mass.) took a shot that Brooks-Newton saved, but Kilpatrick was in front of the net to clean up the rebound and score.

Early in the second half, freshman Brennan DaCosta finished the scoring with his first career goal. Senior Miki Pini (Northboro, Mass.) set the goal up by sending a cross into the box from the right goal line that DaCosta headed in. The goal gave the Falcons a 4-0 lead at the 52:35 mark of the game.

Senior Mike Nikiforov (Framingham, Mass.) was called on to make seven saves in earning his second win of the year.

Providence 1, Sacred Heart 0 (2 OT)

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Senior forward Timothy Ritter (Weston, Mass.) scored with 1:47 remaining in double overtime to lift the Providence men’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Sacred Heart Tuesday evening in a season-opening match played in Fairfield, Conn. It marked the fifth consecutive season-opening win for the Friars.

Both teams were unable to score in the 90 minutes of regulation and the first 10-minute overtime half. Ritter, who had not attempted a shot all game, sealed the win for PC when his strike from 22 yards out found the upper left corner of the net at 108:13. Junior Matt Marcin played the ball to Ritter, who cut inside and beat several defenders before rifling a left-footed shot past Sacred Heart goalkeeper Alex Fait.

“It was a great goal,” Friars head coach Chaka Daley said. “It’s always a nervous time of the year when you play your first game. We showed some of our nerves, but we settled down and kept at it and persevered and eventually scored to get the win.”

The Pioneers started the second half on the attack and looked as if they would pull ahead on a header from Mario Mililli (Shelton, Conn.). Providence goalkeeper Timothy Murray (Haverhill, Mass.) was up to the task tipping the ball just over the crossbar to notch one of his fives saves in the match. Nemanja Filimonovic sent the ensuing corner kick through the face of the goal but SHU could not get a player in position to make the finish.

Filimonovic made a run of his own at the 23:30 mark in the second half and took a spinning shot from the left side of the penalty box that looked destined for the top right corner before Murray was able to get a hand on it.

Murray stopped five shots to earn his 19th career shutout, which is a Providence record. Fait made 10 saves, including two point-blank stops on a shots by red-shirt sophomore Nick Cianci (West Hartford, Conn.) early in the first half.

Siena 1, Vermont 0

BURLINGTON, Vt. - The University of Vermont men’s soccer team’s inability to capitalize on its 15 shot attempts proved to be the breaking point in a 1-0 season opening loss to Siena Tuesday at Centennial Field.

A counter-attack by Siena’s Joe Tavernese with less than 27 minutes remaining in the match provided the lone score of the day as the Saints handed Vermont its first season opening loss under head coach Jesse Cormier.

Previous to Tuesday’s game, the Catamounts were 4-0-1 under Cormier in their first game of the season. Cormier tipped his cat to Siena, who was able to counter any type of attack the Catamounts were able to muster.

“We really want to attack, collectively, and I didn’t really feel like we were able to impose our style,” Cormier said. “They did a great job of defending and countering.”

Vermont was able to get off 15 shots in the game, forcing Siena goalkeeper Steve Skonieczny to make three saves to preserve the win. The Catamounts also had 10 corner kicks compared to the Saints' two.