Men's Soccer Can't Rally Back Against SVC

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's soccer team couldn't rally back from a two-goal first half deficit in a 3-2 loss to Southern Vermont College on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Field. 

Nick Haggerty scored two goals—including the game winner in the 56th minute—to lead the Mountaineers (5-3-0 overall, 2-0-0 NECC). Junior Howie Johnson and freshman Jason Kirby each scored for the Mariners (2-4-1 overall, 0-1-0 NECC), who lost for the first time at home this season.

Haggerty netted his first goal of the day in the 25th minute off a feed from Chris Hansen. He took the shot from the left side and hooked it into the lower-left corner to put the Mountaineers up 1-0. Nearly six minutes later, a Mitchell foul inside the box gave Southern Vermont a penalty shot that Erik Argueta converted for the 2-0 lead.

Trailing 2-0 at the half, Mitchell wasted little time getting a goal back in the second stanza. Johnson scored just 2:13 into the second half to cut the deficit to one. The Mariners played a corner kick into the box that deflected off the SVC keeper and was finished off by Johnson. It was his first goal of the season.

The Mountaineers went ahead 3-1 at the 55:59 mark on a sequence that began with a pass by Hansen to Pierre Massena in the corner. Massena then dribbled along the end line and centered a pass to Haggerty, who was waiting near the far post to deposit his second goal of the game and team-leading eighth of the season.

Mitchell got a goal back in the 69th minute on a laser by Kirby. He sliced his way through the SVC defense and unleashed a shot into the top-right corner from outside the 18-yard box for his first career goal.

The Mariners recorded six shots over the final 20 minutes and put three on goal, but keeper Connor Anniello was up to the task each time. He finished with six saves in the contest while senior Kevin Woodford also made six stops for Mitchell.

Mitchell returns to action at Regis College on Saturday, October 1 at 2:30 p.m.