CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College freshman forward Bryan
Davey (Palmer, Mass.) netted a pair of goals, but Rivier College's
Sean Auclair (Ludlow, Mass.) found the back of the
net on a corner kick service late in the second overtime period to
lift the Raiders to a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Blazers in
Monday night's non-conference men's soccer game at Leary Field.
With the loss, Elms falls to 1-12-2 overall, while Rivier
improves to 2-13 on the season.
With the game knotted at 3-3 in the second overtime period,
Rivier's Brian Joaquim (Mont Vernon, N.H.) lined
up a corner kick in the 109th minute of play and delivered a strike
to the foot of Auclair who placed the ball in the back of the net
to seal the hard-fought victory.
The Raiders got on the board at the 26:20 mark of the first
stanza when Chris Nugent (Camberley, Surrey,
England) scored on a cross from Shawn Gareau
(Harwick, Mass.) to give Rivier an early 1-0 lead.
Elms answered 15 minutes into the second half when freshman
forward Nzigamasa Jonathan (Springfield, Mass.) tapped the ball in
front to Davey who buried a shot into the center of the net setting
the score at 1-1.
Davey put the Blazers ahead at the 77:07 mark when he controlled
a beautiful through ball from junior midfielder Jonathan Coyne
(East Longmeadow, Mass.) and scored to the left side of the
net.
Rivier was quick to equalize as Nugent found the nylon for the
second time in the contest taking a through ball from Joaquim and
launching the ball into the far right corner of the net to make the
score 2-2.
Elms' senior defender Jon D'Amours (Chicopee, Mass.) gave the
Blazers a momentary lead as he collected a loose ball in front of
the net following a corner kick service and drilled it into the net
for a 3-2 lead at the 83:36 mark.
Fifty seconds later, Auclair answered back when Mike
Birecki (Andover, Mass.) controlled a deflected shot and
left the ball for Auclair who drove in the game-tying goal forcing
extra time.
In the first stanza over overtime neither side mustered much
offense as Rivier's goalkeeper John Jarvis
(Henniker, N.H.) turned away just one shot.
In the second frame of overtime, both goalkeepers were tested as
Jarvis notched two saves while Blazers' junior keeper Ryan Sullivan
(Agawam, Mass.) kept Elms in the game with three stops before the
Raiders found the net for the fourth time in the game to seal the
hard-fought win.
Jarvis finished with 11 saves is in the win while Sullivan
notched 10 saves for Elms.
