EAST BOSTON – On a rainy Sunday at James A. Sartori Stadium, the Suffolk men's soccer team suffered its first setback of the 2017 as Framingham State took down the hosts Rams, 3-2.

THE BASICS
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-1) | Framingham State (2-0)
SCORE: Suffolk 2, Framingham State 3

HOW IT HAPPENED
In an evenly matched contest both teams had their chances over the first 25 minutes. Framingham State had the best opportunity right before the clock struck 20 when freshman midfielder Justin Moniz was fed a breakaway ball and had a one-on-one with Kyle Van Cleef. Suffolk's senior made a sliding kick save to keep zeroes on the scoreboard.

Less than four minutes went by before the FSU Rams had a chance to capitalize once again. Justin Hansen drew the blue-and-gold defense to the left side and lofted a pass to Giovanni Green, but the rookie forward's attempt flew over the goal post as the score held at 0-0.

Van Cleef continued to be tested down the stretch, facing another breakaway by the visiting Rams with nearly 15 minutes to play before intermission. Once again the Sandwich, Massachusetts, product made the play, this time his punching glove save turned aside Isaac DeSouza's attempt.

FSU's persistency paid off in the 34th minute as Ken Stahovish fired a rocket from the left-hand side, 18 yards out, to the opposite side of the netting just over Van Cleef's grasp to put the visitors up one. Three minutes later, Framingham tacked on its second goal of the afternoon with DeSouza sliding the ball past Van Cleef to give FSU a 2-0 cushion, which it held heading into the locker rooms.

To open the second half, Suffolk struck first. FSU's netminder Josh Arno denied Jordan Casey's attempt from the right, but went down in the process. With a cluttered shuffle in front of the net, Christian Restrepo picked up the pieces and snuck the ball in to trim the margin to one 10 minutes into the second stanza. 

The one-goal game was shortlived as Framingham responded 33 seconds later as DeSouza struck for the second time on the afternoon. Stahovish played a free ball and crossed it to DeSouza, who was front and center. The junior midfielder secured his second straight game with two goals as he tapped it into the right side to stretch the FSU Rams' edge back to two, 4-2. 

Suffolk continued to slowly chip away at the deficit and once again pulled within one. On a corner kick feed from Restrepo, Casey fired and Arno once again sent the junior captain's attempt packing. Sal Perrotto picked up the rebound and scored to make it a 3-2 game at the 61st minute mark.

The blue-and-gold Rams continued to pile on the attempts and Van Cleef held down the back line, including a penalty kick save, but FSU kept Suffolk quiet down the stretch to hold onto its 3-2 victory.

KEEPING UP WITH THE KEEPERS

• For the second straight outing, Van Cleef made eight saves.
• Arno recorded seven saves in his second victory of the season.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Both squads fired off 17 shots in the contest.
• Suffolk held the advantage in corners, 8-3.

NOTEABLES

• Restrepo ran his point streak to two straight games, dishing out one assist in the season debut and scoring one goal this afternoon.
• Perrotto notched his first goal as a Suffolk Ram.

POST-GAME PIC
 

COMING UP
Suffolk hits the road for the first time in 2017 when it visits Emerson for a midweek matchup Wednesday, Sept. 6. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.