Blazers Come Up Short Against Monks

Chicopee, MA – The Elms College men's soccer team dropped their GNAC conference game against Saint Joseph's College yesterday evening 0-1.

THE BASICS:

SCORE: Elms 0 | SJC 1
RECORDS: Elms (5-9-0, 4-7-0 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Blazers started off strong with a shot on goal within the first five minutes by Alex Szarkowski (Belchertown, MA). At minute six the Monks scored the first and only goal of the match during a corner kick. During the 13th minute, Mike Lemke (Bristol, CT) had a header on the back post finding Musa Jiana (Brikama, Gambia) inside the 6-yard box, who had a header just over the bar. In the last few minutes Pedro Duarte (Chicopee, MA) came down the right side, crossed a ball to the back post to find Alex Szarkowski whose diving header chance was just wide of the goal.

The second half the Blazers own Justin Szwajkowski (Westhampton, MA) and Devon Polletta (Prospect, CT) had shots on goal. During the 75th minute, Alex Szarkwoski played a ball through to Musa Jiana who was in on a breakaway from midfield before he was pulled back by the last defender, who got away with only a yellow card on the play.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- The Blazers held a disadvantage in shots (19-6), shots on goal (9-5), and corner kicks (12-1) last evening, but were able to hold the Monks off keeping the score 1-0.
- Justin Szwajkowski, Devon Polletta, and Alex Szarkowski all saw shots on goal for Elms.
- Collin Liedke (Newington, CT) had 7 saves for the match.

FROM THE DESK OF COACH WYSOCKI:

"We didn't get the result we wanted, but I couldn't be more proud of the effort and the fight the team showed today. Going up against a top-10 team in the region is always going to be a difficult task, but the boys took the challenge head-on. It's what I love about this team, we never back down from a fight, and we're more than capable of going toe-to-toe with anyone we step on the field against. When we bring this level of work-rate and energy, we're a difficult team to play. With only a couple weeks left of the season, we'll be looking to replicate this performance and make a final push for a playoff spot. And once you're in the knockout stages, anything can happen."

UP NEXT:
- The Blazers are back in action, hosting Westfield State University in non-conference play, Wednesday 10/20 for a 7PM start.

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