Fitchburg State University Clips Men’s Soccer, 1-0 in 2OT

FITCHBURG, Mass. – Elms College sophomore goalkeeper Christian Kostka (Oxford, Conn.) made four saves but Fitchburg State University's Jared Burns (East Bridgewater, Mass.) netted a goal in the 103^rd minute of play to break a scoreless tie as the Falcons edged the Blazers, 1-0 in Wednesday evening's non-conference double overtime men's soccer game.

With the loss, Elms moves to 0-2-0 on the season, while Fitchburg State improves to 2-1-0 overall.

After a scoreless 90 minutes of regulation that saw Elms outshoot Fitchburg State, 21-10, the sides added a scoreless first period of overtime before Tom Sorrentino (West Haven, Conn.) crossed the ball into the center of field from the right wing and Burns blasted the ball into the back of the net for the game-winner.

The Falcons played nearly the entire contest down a man after receiving a red card early in the match, but the solid play of Aidan Hanratty (East Bridgewater, Mass.) proved to be the equalizer for Fitchburg State. 

With 13 minutes remaining in the second frame, Elms' senior forward Adam O'Grady (Somers, Conn.) and sophomore midfielder Richard Vanasse (Somers, Conn.) turned the pressure up on the Falcons' defenders as the two rifled in a pair of shots that Hanratty turned aside to keep the contest level at 0-0.

Adam O'Grady added two shots and sophomore forward Lorenzo Rolocut (Somers, Conn.) drilled another in the first stanza of extra time, but none of the offerings found the net.

Elms will host New England College on Saturday, September 7 in its 2013 home-opener at 1:00 p.m. at Leary Field.