Posted: Oct 03, 2012
The Elms College men's soccer team saw three players score goals in the opening 28 minutes of play and the goalkeeping tandem of freshmen Nicholson Pennant (Kingston, Jamaica) and Christian Kostka (Oxford, Conn.) combine to make seven saves as the Blazers posted a hard-fought, 3-2 victory over Suffolk University in Wednesday afternoon's non-conference men's soccer game at Leary Field.
With the win, Elms has now won two straight and improves to 3-5 on the season, while Suffolk moves to 6-5-1 overall.
Elms bolted out of the gate scoring in the ninth minute of action when senior forward Tavish Leland (Bridgton, Maine) delivered a perfect through ball which junior forward Adam O'Grady (Somers, Conn.) controlled and finished through the goalkeepers legs to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead.
Elms, which outshot Suffolk 11-7 in the opening 45 minutes, continued to apply the pressure and sophomore midfielder Joelle Reyes (San Salvador, El Salvador) was the recipient of a well-executed centering pass from sophomore midfielder Conor Rieker (Agawam, Mass.) who had collect a nice touch from freshman forward Gerard Lawler (Langwarrin, Victoria, Australia) to set up the Blazers' second goal of the game and set the score at 2-0 at the 23:26 mark.
Just four minutes later, freshman forward Lorenzo Rolocut (Somers, Conn.) corralled a beautiful cross from junior forward Ziggy Jonathan (Burmdi, Africa) and fired a bullet into the left corner of the net to give Elms a 3-0 advantage.
Suffolk made headway late in the first half when Joe Harvey (Reading, Mass.) delivered a nice through ball to Juan Lazcano Bello (Madrid, Spain) who finished with the Rams' first goal of the contest in the 34th minute of action and set the score at 3-1 at intermission.
"We got a lot of players involved early and had a lot of big contributors," head coach Chris Streeter said following the game. "We were able to get some great momentum going early stringing together a few goals in a row. I thought were able to possess and distribute the ball very well and create some dangerous scoring opportunities."
After playing 40 minutes of scoreless soccer to start the second half, Suffolk was awarded a penalty kick at the 85:36 mark and Alberto Benhamu (Caracas, Venezuela) who had a team-high three shots on goal, converted the penalty and pulled the Rams to within one at 3-2.
From there, the Rams had just one more opportunity to net the equalizer, but Ricky Miskin's (Needham, Mass.) drive went wide of the net and the Blazers held on for the victory.
Pennant made four of Elms' seven saves in the first 45 minutes of play and earned the victory, while Kostka notched three stops to help preserve the win.
Elms' sophomore midfielder Josh DiNoto (Branford, Conn.) had four shots on goal while Adam O'Grady added two shots on net.
The Blazers received stellar defensive efforts from junior Alex Rodriguez (Fitchburg, Mass.), sophomore Anthony Nitri (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and freshmen Connor O'Grady (Somers, Conn.) and Joe Pellegrini (Somers, Conn.) to help nullify Suffolk's offensive attack.
(Story courtesy of Elms College Sports Information)