Men’s Soccer Downed by Lasell on Senior Day

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's soccer team had their senior day spoiled by Lasell University on Tuesday afternoon, as the Lasers scored two unanswered goals to top the Mariners by a 2-1 final in a GNAC matchup at Alumni Field.

The Mariners wasted little time in gaining an advantage, breaking a scoreless tie in the 11th minute of play when they were awarded a free kick after a foul called on the Lasers. Junior Matt Ladd (Griswold, Conn.) proceeded to take advantage of the free kick opportunity and dropped a perfect pass into the goal area where fellow junior Dylan Lucey (Lebanon, Conn.) knocked a header past the Lasell keeper for his team-leading sixth goal of the season. For Ladd, it was his second assist of the fall, placing him in a three way tie for second most on the squad.

The Lasers converted an equalizer with 21:39 remaining in the opening half, when a pass into the penalty area pulled Mitchell goalkeeper Jesse Jenkins (Windsor, Conn.) away from the net and a collision with an attacking Lasell player sent him to the ground. With the ball knocked loose, Lasell's Dillon Winkelmann continued to pursue and was able to connect with his right foot, sending the shot into the Mitchell net for what proved to be the deciding goal of the day. The Lasers managed one more goal early in the second half when a free kick which was dropped into the penalty area was booted around multiple times before Jaydon Perez was able to strike the ball with his right foot just outside the goal area, sending it sailing it past a diving Jenkins.

Lasell outshot the Mariners 19-10, including a 9-6 advantage in shots on goal, however both teams were equal in corner kick opportunities with eight apiece. Junior Nick Forst (Ellington, Conn.) paced Mitchell with a team-high four shots, three of them on net.

Jesse Jenkins absorbed the loss and was credited with seven saves, while Cameron McDonough tallied five saves on the way to first win of the season.

The Mariners (2-9-3, 2-8-2) return to play with a conference road game on Saturday, October 21st, at Regis College. Lasell (3-9-2, 3-7-2) will look for their second consecutive win on Saturday, October 21st, when they travel to face Dean College.

Prior to the game, Mitchell honored the four seniors from the men's soccer team; Nick Ghirardi (East Lyme, Conn.), Dylan Kinsella (Waterbury, Conn.), Justin-Corey Le (Norwich, Conn.), and Randy Wah (New Britain, Conn.)