EAST BOSTON – The Suffolk men's soccer team fell on the wrong side of a 4-3 overtime decision against Westfield State Saturday afternoon at James A. Sartori Stadium at East Boston Memorial Park. The Owls potted the golden goal 2:53 into the extra session to hand the Rams their first loss of the Bill Maddock era.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Westfield State 4
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-1-0) | Westfield State (2-0-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a thriller as soon as ball was kicked off as Miguel Varela put the first tick on the board 29 seconds into the action. A deep throw-in from Edward Abouzied bounced and found an open Varela for a right-footed volley strike from 10 yards out.
Westfield State tied things up just over six minutes later when a Jack Kelly corner from the fright of Xander Belog found an open JayJay Evaoborkahi.
The teams went into the half deadlocked, but things changed 10 minutes into the second stanza as Nick Brown scored twice for the Owls in a 3:51 span to put the Rams in a 3-1 hole.
Just over a minute after Brown's second strike, Suffolk's graduate transfer Nigel Leo took advantage of a turnover just 25 yards out from the goal and blew by two Westfield defenders for a one-on-one opportunity with keeper Griffin Brown, who entered on an injury substation 1:41 into the second half. Leo's right-footed kick pulled the Rams within one.
Like Brown, Leo found twine again to tie things up just three minutes later. Abouzied fed the ball pas an outstretched Owls' defender, and Leo made no mistake, popping the ball over Brown's left shoulder to equalize things at 3-all.
Things stayed there for the remainder of regulation, but the same cannot be said for the extra session. Racing downfield, the Owls capitalized on Suffolk's transition defense as Evborokahi lobbed a ball in the box from the right sideline, which was headed in by Ian Jalbert just over eight yards out to put the game away.
KEEPING UP WITH THE KEEPERS
- Balog finished the afternoon with six stops.
- Emilio Mancuso started in net for the Owls and had one save in 46:41 minutes of play.
- Griffin Brown secured a pair of saves in his 46:12 minutes of action.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Leo led Suffolk's three-goal offense with two goals himself.
- Varela netted one goal.
- Abouzeid record both of the Rams' assists.
- Suffolk outshot Westfield State, 21-14, however, the Owls had more shots on target, 10-6.
- The Rams had more corner chances, 10-4.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk and Westfield State met for the first time.
- The Rams played in overtime for the first time in the Maddock era and first time since winning a 2-1 OT game at Rivier Oct. 30, 2021.
- Leo registered his first goal as a Ram and is the second Suffolk player to find the back of the net twice under Maddock's guidance.
- Varela has produced a point in each of Suffolk's games this year.
- Abouzeid notched a career-high two helpers.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk wraps up opening weekend tomorrow, Sunday, Sept. 5 against Lasell. First kick is set for 12 p.m. in Eastie.
