Posted: Sep 30, 2021

Dima Opens His Account on First Blazer Start

Colby-Sawyer

Elms

Final

Colby-Sawyer ()

Elms ()

Scoring Summary

1st - 20:17 - Michael Dima (Elms)

Game Leaders

Colby-Sawyer

G: N/A

A: N/A

Sh: 5 Players (#2, #3, #6, #8, #9) - 1

Sv: Ryan Witty - 7

Elms

G: Michael Dima - 1

A: Justin Szwajkowski - 1

Sh: 2 Players (#7, #9) - 3

Sv: Collin Liedke - 3

Team Stats

Colby-Sawyer

Elms

Shots (on goal)

5 (3)

11 (8)

Saves

Fouls

Corner Kicks

Offsides

Full stats

Chicopee, MA – The Elms Blazers men's soccer team won their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) appearance against Colby-Sawyer yesterday evening, 1-0.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Elms 1 | Colby-Sawyer 0

RECORDS: Elms (5-5-0, 2-3 GNAC) | Colby-Sawyer (1-6-0, 1-4 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

In the 13th minute, Michael Dima shot a free kick over the wall and on frame, but Chargers, Ryan Witty made a save to his lower right side.

In the 15th minute, Justin Szwajkowski elevated for a header at the near post and glanced it just wide of the back post.

One minute later, the Chargers had a flurry of 3 corner kicks in a row, all defended successfully by the Blazers.

The Blazers scored the loan goal of the match in the 20th minute when Michael Dima scored off the head of Justin Szwajkowski.

With 9 minutes left in the first half, the Chargers had a free kick that was blocked by the Blazer wall.

Blazers went into halftime up 1-0.

59th minute, Szwajkowski sent a header just over the bar.

In the 60th minute, a ball was played over the top by Devon Polletta, in behind the Chargers back line, and Musa Jiana ran onto the pass and chipped the ball over the Charger's GK to make the game 2-0, but the assistant referee flagged for offside and the goal was disallowed.

In the 62nd minute, Charger's player took a long range shot that forced a strong save from Collin Liedke.

In the 65th minute, the Chargers sent a free kick into the box and glanced a header off the post that was then cleared away by the Blazer's defense.

At the 70 minute mark, Lance Peterkin slid a thru ball into the box to Musa Jiana who sent a left-footed shot towards the back post, but Ryan Witty made a quick-reflex save with his right hand to push the ball over the ball and keep the score at 1-0.

In the 74th minute, Andwele Salmon broke free of the defense and went 1-on-1 with Chargers goalkeeper, Ryan Witty but made the breakaway save.

At the 88 minute mark, Brandyn Costa fed Andwele Salmon thru again for another breakaway, but Ryan Witty came up big once again and made the save in the 1v1 situation.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Justin Szwajkowski, Musa Jiana, Pedro Duarte, Andwele Salmon and Michael Dima all saw shots.

- Collin Liedke saw 3 saves for the day.

FROM THE DESK COACH WYSOCKI:

"We're in the middle of a big stretch of really important matches. We spoke before the game about the gravity of the situation we're in, and how important the next few matches will be to the outcome of our season, and we challenged the team. We challenged them to play with a heightened sense of urgency, to leave nothing on the field, and play every match like it could be our last.

It wasn't the prettiest game of soccer this club has ever played, but they fought and scrapped and battled and we didn't give up. Colby-Sawyer threw a lot at us, even literally, but we defended well and stayed composed throughout the 90 to get the result we wanted. There are definitely things to improve upon going forward, but for now, we'll take the result and look ahead to our next match."

UP NEXT:

- The Blazers are on the road this weekend for a non-conference matchup Saturday 10/2 against Eastern Nazarene for a 11AM start.

STAY CONNECTED:

- For the latest on Elms College Athletics, follow the Blazers via social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.