Newton Centre, MA - Freshman Will Daniels (Bethany, CT/Notre Dame) notched a hat trick for the Mount Ida College men's soccer team capturing a 3-1 victory over visiting Rivier College in the Mustangs first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game of the season this Saturday in Newton, Massachusetts.  The Mustangs find their first win of the season as well improving to 1-3 overall, 1-0 in conference play while the Raiders remain winless at 0-4 dropping their first GNAC loss of the year.

The first half feature both teams with numerous chances to score but failed to do so due to a wet and rain soaked field from ongoing showers during the contest.  Daniels, who scored all three goals late in the second half, notched his first one off a corner kick that was awarded in the 60^th minute of play.   Mustang freshman Ricky Oliveira (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford), who has showcased an outstanding left foot so far this season, launched a curving ball to the center of the box for Daniels to flick into the net with his noggin in the right side of the net for the 1-0 advantage.

Immediately following the Mount Ida goal, the Raiders answered with one of their own.  Junior Zach Zina (Ludlow, MA/Ludlow) fed a perfect pass to freshman Eric Moreno (Lynn, MA/Lynn English) at the top left corner of the 18 yard box.  Mustang goalkeeper Steven Enright (South Kingston, RI/Prout) was indecisive on whether to challenge Moreno and eventually was stuck in no man's land in the middle of the box.   Moreno flicked his shot over Enright right in the middle of the net to knot the score at 1-1 late in the second half. 

Just when it looked as if the game was headed into overtime, Daniels capitalized for the second time of the game in the 85^th minute to regain the advantage.  Junior captain Hayato Kanesaka (Old Tappen, NJ/Northern Valley) set up Dainels in front of the net firing his second shot into the nylon for the 2-1 lead.

Daniels finished off the hat trick in the final two minutes of the game off a perfectly placed pass by senior Taiki Otsuka (Kanagawa-Ken, Japan/Sadoudai).  Daniels dribbled it through the box and slid a shot past the goaltender for his third score of the game along with the 3-1 GNAC victory. 

The Mustangs outshot the visitors 31-17 for the contest along with six corner kicks a piece between the teams.  Each team had 14 fouls a piece along with one caution handed out to one of the Mustangs in the 58^th minute of play. 

Enright was again solid for Mount Ida notching four saves including three point blank shots that were smothered in front of the net to preserve the tie and keep the Mustangs chances alive.  Raider's junior keeper John Jarvis (St. Albans, VT/Bellows Free Academy) denied 10 shots for his squad.