Salve Regina Comes Back to Clip Men's Soccer

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's soccer team let an early lead slip away in a 3-2 loss to Salve Regina University on Wednesday afternoon in non-conference action at Alumni Field.

The Mariners scored twice in the opening 3:18 of the contest but couldn't hold the lead. After tying the game on a pair of goals in the final 1:31 of the first half, the Seahawks pulled ahead in the 65th minute on a goal by Jared Warren and held on to improve to 4-8-1 overall.

Mitchell's fast start came courtesy of Andris Vital, who recorded a goal and an assist in the early stages. He put the Mariners on the scoreboard just 1:39 into the game off a feed from Zavier Veliz. Salve had cleared away a corner kick, but Mitchell played the ball right back to Veliz in the corner, and he delivered a pass to Vital on the right side of the box for a sliding shot inside the far post.

The Mariners struck again 39 seconds later as Vital collected his own blocked shot and fed Andrew Nigro at the top of the box. Nigro unleashed a shot that hit off the crossbar and came down over the goal line for the 2-0 lead. 

The Seahawks kept up the pressure on the offensive end and eventually broke through in the 44th minute to cut the deficit in half. Salve sprung Christopher Anderson for an open look down the right side, but his shot caromed off the far post. PJ Criscione was trailing the play and followed up with a shot that Mitchell keeper Anthony Drake stopped but couldn't control. Criscione then cleaned up his own rebound to put his team on the board.

Salve tied the game with 19 seconds remaining in the half. Mitchell looked to drain the final seconds off the clock with a long clear, but Jordan Elster tracked down the ball in his own defensive midfield and lofted a long pass into the box. The ball made it past Mitchell's back line and Matthew O'Donnell buried it into the top-left corner to equalize. 

SRU goalkeeper Bryan McCormack kept the game knotted at 2-2 with a quality save against Vital in the 63rd minute, reaching out to deflect a shot that would have put the Mariners back in front. Less than two minutes later, Anderson found Warren for what would end up being the game-winning goal. 

Salve Regina held a 24-9 advantage in shots. McCormack (2-1 overall) finished with three saves while Drake made five and Romer Ochoa added three.

Mitchell (1-8-2 overall) will next play at Becker College on Saturday, October 15 at 1:30 p.m. Salve Regina returns to action at home against Curry College on Saturday at 3 p.m.