Elms College Blazers Battle Fitchburg State But Lose in Final Minutes 1-0

Chicopee, Mass- Elms College's junior goalkeeper Ryan Harris (Brandon, Miss) stopped 5 shots out of the 6 shots that he faced, but a goal by Fitchburg State's Simon Vikoler (Chiusa, Italy) in the fourth minute of action proved to be the game-winner as the Falcons held on for a hard-fought, 1-0 victory in Wednesday night's non-conference men's soccer game at Leary Field in Chicopee, Mass.

With the loss, Elms College falls to 0-1-1 on the season, while Fitchburg State notches its first win to improve to 1-2 overall.

In a game that was tightly contested throughout, Fitchburg State broke through in the final minutes when Vikoler netted a goal following an initial shot that was blocked by Elms' senior defender Brendan Reynolds (Springfield, Mass) at the 40:21 mark in the second half.

Despite outshooting the Falcons 9-5 going into half, Elms was not able to break through.

In the second half, Elms again edged the Falcons 10-5. Scott Labrie (Southampton, Mass) and Connor O'Grady (Somers, Conn.) combined for 6 shots together. O'Grady had a free kick at the 05:58 mark from just above the penalty area, but put the ball just above the cross bar.

Falcons' net-minder Aidan Hanratty (E. Bridgewater, Mass) finished with ten saves in the winning effort, including 7 in the first half.

Elms returns to non-conference play on Saturday, September 6, when they travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y to play against Vassar College.