Men's Soccer Finds Offense at SVC, Win 4-1

BENNINGTON, Vt. – Slippery conditions and physical play were at the forefront of a Southern Vermont College men's soccer 4-1 loss to Mitchell College on Saturday afternoon at Everett Field. 

Sophomores Jason Kirby and Frank Williams led the Mariners, who improved to 2-1-0 in conference play (4-5-0 overall). Kirby scored a pair of goals while Williams added a goal and an assist. With the loss, the Mountaineers fell to 1-2-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference (2-10-0 overall).

Back-and-forth play was a constant for the day, as both teams struggled to find solid footing on the sloppy pitch which had been used just prior for the SVC women's match. The Mariners were the first to get on the scoreboard when senior captain Howie Johnson found Kirby in the box for a solid look at goal.  Kirby was able to beat Mountaineer keeper Christopher Dunham in the 31st minute for the 1-0 advantage.

The Mariners increased the lead in the second stanza when Kirby played a ball from the left side of the box across the goal frame, getting deflected in by a Mountaineer defenseman at the 49:09 mark. SVC wouldn't go down without a fight, at it continued to work the ball and create chances in the offensive end of the field.

Pierre Massena recorded his third goal of the season when he found the back of the net after being played to by Erik Argueta in the 51st minute.

Mitchell junior Zachary Simmons brought the lead back to two goals in the 67th minute when he got on the end of a Williams pass and took a rip on goal. Williams then added the final notch at the 83:07 mark for the 4-1 final.

Dunham finished with nine saves on the day, while Mitchell sophomore Ramazan Sinani turned away three Mountaineer shots. Mitchell outshot SVC 22-9 on the afternoon.

Both Kirby and Williams increased their season goal total to three. Simmons' goal was his second of the year.

Mitchell next hosts Coast Guard on Saturday, October 13 at noon.