MCLA Rallies Past Men's Soccer

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College men's soccer team suffered a 4-1 setback against visiting MCLA in non-conference action at Leary Field Tuesday night. The Blazers move to 2-7 on the season, while MCLA improves to 2-4-2.

The Blazers grabbed the early momentum, forcing a corner kick in the fifth minute of play. On the corner, the cross from freshman Colby Macdonald (Bristol, Conn.) was knocked down in front of the net, where Elms senior Lorenzo Rolocut (Somers, Conn.) gathered the loose ball and ripped a shot through traffic and past MCLA sophomore goalie Kamron Anderson (Springfield, Mass.) to give the Blazers 1-0 advantage.

With 34:21 remaining in the first half, the Trailblazers evened the score as junior Edward Boateng (Worcester, Mass.) launched a cross to the far post, where junior Dylan Pereira (Ludlow, Mass.) controlled the ball with his chest and fired a shot to the far post, knotting the contest at 1-1. In the 27^th minute, MCLA took control as Pereira lofted a ball to the front of the Elms net and junior Anthony Basile (East Longmeadow, Mass.) beat Blazers senior keeper Christina Kostka (Oxford, Conn.) with a header, to stake the Trailblazers to a 2-1 lead. MCLA carried their lead into the intermission.

At the 27:34 mark of the second half, the Trailblazers netted a back-breaker as Pereira drilled a shot into the far corner from over 25 yards out, off a feed from sophomore Kwadwo Kusi (Worcester, Mass.), extending the MCLA lead to 3-1. Less than six minutes later, the Trailblazers dealt their final blow as senior Sean Kenney (Glenville, N.Y.) headed home a free kick from sophomore Chris Shea (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), as MCLA went on to the 4-1 win.

The Trailblazers edged the Blazers in the shot column, 22-17, during the contest. Kostka made a season-high eight saves for Elms, while Anderson stopped two shots for MCLA.

The Blazers will look to return to the win column when they travel to Wheelock College for a conference matchup Saturday at Noon. MCLA will be back in action when they host Westfield State Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

ELMS SOCCER