EAST BOSTON – Suffolk men's soccer took a two-goal lead and held off the University of New England down the stretch to take a 2-1 Conference of New England victory over the Nor'Easters Saturday afternoon at James A. Sartori Stadium at East Boston Memorial Park.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 2 | University of New England 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (4-3-3, 1-0-1 CNE) | University of New England (3-4-2, 1-1-0 CNE)
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a scoreless first half, Suffolk scored two goals in a 1:08 span 12 minutes into the second half to take an advantage it never let go of.
The first strike came behind a Tommy Handelsman throw in. The senior launched the ball in front of the net where Matthew Belluardo met it with a perfect header pass to TJ Maselek, who lightly kicked it into the back of the net to start the scoring at the 58:35 mark.
Handelsman had a goal of his own as he buried a long ball from the right-side 20-yard line into the opposite top corner of the net. Jack Phelps set up the score that made it 2-0 Rams with 30 minutes remaining in regulation.
Things got interesting in the final 10 minutes as the Nor'Easters snuck on the scoreboard to trim Suffolk's lead in half. After the Rams defensed blocked Will Smith's header, Bruno Correia headed to the corner. He flicked the kick high to the center of the net where a bustle a cluster of jerseys waited. Numerous Nor'Easters tried to put the ball away, but it was Ronan Donaghey that would be successful at the 84:14 mark.
UNE's game-tying attempts were persistent and Donaghey had another attempt on target 30 seconds later. This time Nathan Harlow managed to deny the shot to preserve the victory for the Rams.
KEEPING UP WITH THE KEEPERS
- Harlow had two saves in the victory.
- Triston O'Hagan logged seven stops the in setback.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Handelsman had a hand in both of Suffolk's goals. He scored one and assist on the other.
- Maselek was responsible for the game-opening goal.
- Belluardo and Phelps recorded one assist each.
- Suffolk outshot the Nor'Easters, 24-10.
- UNE took more corners, 7-4.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk is unbeaten all-time against the University of New England, 4-0-0.
- The blue-and-gold is now 2-0-0 against UNE at home.
- Suffolk has outscored the Nor'Easters 13-4 all-time.
- Handlesman tied a career-high in points (3), and goals (1).
- Handelsman scored his first goal of the season and dished out his second assist of the year.
- Belluardo registered his first point of the year on one assist.
- Maselek logged his first goal of the season.
- Phelps notched his first assist of the campaign.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Rams take the midweek off from action to prep for their Saturday, Oct. 5 showdown with Hartford. Kick-off of that CNE contest in Eastie is set for 3:00 p.m.
