EAST BOSTON – Suffolk men's soccer returned to the friendly confines of East Boston Memorial Stadium and picked up a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) victory over Nichols, defeating the Bison by a score of 1-0 on Saturday evening. Nigel Leo's strike in the 65th minute was the difference maker for the Rams.

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 1 | Nichols 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (6-5-1, 2-2-0 CCC) | Nichols (4-5-0, 0-3-0 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rams came out of the gate with a strong offensive attack and were able to put the first shot on goal at 8:34 in the opening frame, coming off the right foot of Brady Sorensen. Sorenson recorded four straight shots on goal over the course of the next four minutes, but Nichols' goalie Franco Barreto-Santana was up to the task on each of the tries. 

Despite the heavy pressure put on by the Rams attackers, both squads headed to the halftime break scoreless. Leo had three chances to break the deadlock in the 60th minute but was unable to convert. His third shot off a mid-air volley soared just over the crossbar to keep the scoresheet clean.

Just over five minutes later, Erik Van Even outmuscled a Nichols defender and the keeper, to feed Leo the ball from the ground. The graduate transfer made no mistake and sent the ball past two defenders to give Suffolk a one-goal advantage in the 65th minute. 

Despite penalty and free-kick opportunities for both teams, both goalies were able to keep the ball in front of them for the remainder of the period. 

KEEPING UP WITH THE KEEPERS

• Xander Balog logged four saves in his sixth start of the year.
• Barreto-Santana had four stops for the Bison in the setback.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Leo's sixth goal of the season proved to be the difference.
• Van Evan notched his first assist of the season on the game's lone goal.
• The Rams held a 17-15 shot advantage over Nichols, including an edge in shots on goal, 9-4.
• Suffolk garnered 11 more fouls than the Bison, with the final tally sitting at 21-10.

NOTEWORTHY

• Saturday's game marked the first in program history.
• Leo produced his third game-winning goal of the year. 
• The game was the seventh of Suffolk's season to be decided by one goal.  

POST-GAME PIC

COMING UP
Suffolk returns to the road Tuesday, Oct. 12 when it travels to Biddeford, Maine for a 4 p.m. clash with the University of New England.