Elms Downs Men's Soccer 4-1

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's soccer team suffered a 4-1 setback against Elms College on Tuesday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference action at Alumni Field.

Elms (4-10 overall, 2-4-0 NECC) scored two goals in the first half and added another pair in the second to snap a five-game losing streak. Tavish Leland scored twice to lead the Blazers while Ziggy Jonathan and Conor Rieker each had tallies. Senior James Gleason scored the lone goal for the Mariners (3-9-1 overall, 1-4-0 NECC).

Jonathan was active early for the Blazers, nearly scoring in the eighth minute but denied by a quick save by goalkeeper Kevin Woodford. Just over 10 minutes later, Joelle Reyes gave Jonathan another scoring chance, threading a 25-yard pass down the middle of the field that split the Mitchell defense. Jonathan caught up to the ball in stride and finished into the right corner to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute. It was his team-leading seventh goal of the season.

The Mariners tied the game in the 24th minute after a foul yielded a free kick near the sideline in Elms' defensive half. Senior Howie Johnson played the ball to the far side of the box, where classmate Tommy Derosier settled it before slipping a pass to Gleason in front of the goal. Gleason fired a shot past goalkeeper Ryan Sullivan for his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

Leland nearly put the Blazers back in front in the 27th minute, but his header was cleared off the goal line by defender John Patterson to keep the score knotted at 1-1. Elms then pulled ahead in the 35th minute thanks to a persistent effort by Rieker. The Blazers earned a corner kick and played a ball to Rieker at the near post. His first shot was saved by Woodford, but he fought off a defender to clean up the rebound for his first goal of the year.

Elms took the 2-1 lead into the halftime intermission and tacked on two more scores in the second stanza to put the game out of reach. Jonathan recorded an assist on each goal, both of which were scored on headers by Leland. On the first tally, Jonathan stole the ball away from the defense and centered a pass to Leland, whose header was deflected by Woodford but still found the back of the net. On the second goal, Jonathan served a ball into the box that was flicked on by Joseph Coleman and finished off by Leland.

Ryan was solid in goal for the Blazers after allowing the lone goal, finishing with 11 saves against 24 shots. Woodford recorded seven saves against 19 shots in the loss.

Mitchell will next play at Wheelock College on Saturday, October 22 at 2 p.m.