Men's Soccer Surges Past Newbury

NEW LONDON, Conn. – A first-half scoring barrage spurred the Mitchell College men's soccer team to a 4-0 victory over Newbury College in a New England Collegiate College (NECC) showdown on Tuesday afternoon at Alumni Field.

The Mariners (5-6-0 overall, 3-1-0 NECC) scored three times in a three-minute span to pull away midway through the opening stanza. Junior Zachary Simmons netted goals a minute apart to lead the attack.

It was Newbury (4-9-2 overall, 1-3-1 NECC) that had the first scoring chance of the match, but sophomore goalie Ramazan Sinani turned away a point-blank shot by Marc Jean-Jacques in the second minute to keep things scoreless.

Mitchell's first goal came in the 21st minute when Simmons followed a loose ball into the box and capitalized on an error by the Newbury keeper. Antonios Tran came out to meet the ball and slid for the pick-up, but it popped out of his hands in front of an empty net. Simmons calmly buried the shot to put the Mariners up 1-0.

Simmons then duplicated the feat one minute later, scoring off a feed from sophomore Frank Williams for his fourth goal of the season. Williams played a ball from the left side that Simmons flicked on into the right corner of the goal for the 2-0 lead.

Mitchell wasn't done yet, as sophomore Taylor Surette added his first career goal in the 24th minute. Classmate Jason Kirby stole the ball away from a Newbury defender and centered a pass into the box that Surette headed home.

The Mariners took the 3-0 lead into the halftime intermission and tacked on the final goal late in regulation. Williams struck a free kick at the top of the box and beat the goalkeeper for his fourth goal of the year.

Sinani finished with three saves—including a diving sprawl in the 89th minute—to record his second shutout of the season. Sophomore defender Jordan Derosier also made a spectacular play in the second half to preserve the shutout, sliding into the goalpost to clear away a shot before it crossed the line.

Tran and Archange Gerard split time in goal for the Nighthawks, each playing a half. Gerard finished with a pair of saves.

Mitchell will next play at Becker College on Saturday, October 20 at 6 p.m.