Six First Half Goals Lift Springfield College Past Men’s Soccer, 6-3
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Elms (1-2) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|
Springfield (3-0-1) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Elms College junior midfielder Tavish Leland (Bridgton, Maine) scored a pair of goals and senior goalkeeper Ryan Sullivan (Agawam, Mass.) made seven saves to become the program's all-time saves leader, but the Blazers suffered a 6-3 loss to Springfield College in Saturday afternoon's non-conference men's soccer game at Brock-Affleck Field.
With the loss, Elms falls to 1-2 overall, while Springfield improves to 3-0-1 on the season.
Springfield dashed to an early lead, scoring three times in the opening 20 minutes of play. The attack was ignited by Jake Miskin (Needham, Mass.) who scored in the 13th minute. Less than three minutes later, Scott Saucier (Derry, N.H.) put the Pride ahead 2-0, before Drew Vanasse (Concord, Mass.) added the team's third goal at the 19:29 mark of the first half.
Elms' sophomore midfielder Adam O'Grady (Somers, Conn.) answered with the Blazers' first score of the game when he capitalized on a Springfield turnover and put the ball in the back of the net in the 23rd minute to set the score at 3-1.
Drew Sommer (West Chester, Pa.) put Springfield back on pace to give the Pride a 4-1 lead in the 26th minute before John Mankus (Vernon, Conn.) and Mike Desroches (Enfield, Conn.) rounded out the Pride's scoring in the first half with goals in the 40th and 43rd minutes respectively to give Springfield a 6-1 cushion at halftime.
The Blazers found its offensive rhythm in the second half as freshman defender Thomas Rivers (Hope Mills, N.C.) delivered a brilliant feed to Leland who netted his first goal of the contest to set the score at 6-2 in the 79th minute. Leland added a second goal on a diving header in the 81st minute, leaning into a senior midfielder Jonathan Coyne (East Longmeadow, Mass.) cross and bouncing it past Springfield goalie Chris Walton (Cromwell, Conn.) to make the score 6-3.
Sullivan need just three saves to pass former Elms goalkeeper Nick Pellegrini '09 as the program's all-time saves leader.
Elms returns to action on Wednesday, Sept. 14 when it hosts non-conference foe Lyndon State at 7:00 p.m. at Leary Field.
