Men's Soccer Suffers First NECC Loss at Lesley
CAMBRIDGE, MA – In a battle of New England Collegiate Conference unbeatens, Lesley University knocked off Mitchell College, 3-0, in men's soccer action on Wednesday night at Edward Field.
Lesley (15-1-0 overall, 6-0-0 NECC) needed only 3:57 to get on the board, as Nick Mattox was patiently waiting to pound home an Ali Sozeri putback. Mariners goalkeeper Kevin Woodford, diving to his right, deflected the freshman's shot in front of the left post, where Mattox knocked it into a wide open right half of the net.
The Lynx extended their lead at 12:33, when Tyler Reeves put his touch on his Senior Night, corralling a beautiful cross from Ryan Rodgers five yards out and putting it into the back of the net for his ninth goal of the year.
Paul Vasconcelos' team controlled the first half to the tone of 10 shots to one for Mitchell (7-6-2, 4-1-1 NECC).
Lesley got an insurance goal at 63:03, as Darius Koep followed up an Ari Sinanis header for his first of the season.
The Lynx outshot the Mariners 27-3 on the night, with Zachary Almeida-Beers, who entered the contest ranked 15th in the nation at 0.38 goals per game, notching his ninth shutout. For Mitchell, Woodford finished with a match-high eight saves in the loss.
Lesley is now assured of finishing first in the conference standings and hosting the upcoming NECC Championship. The Mariners can still clinch the second seed and a first-round bye for the Championship with a win at Becker on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) in their regular season finale.