NEWTON, Mass. – A perfectly placed shot in overtime by Mount Ida's Michael Templeton handed the Rivier University Raiders their second OT defeat this season as the Mustangs took the game 3-2 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men's Soccer action this afternoon at Mount Ida's Alumni Field.
Rivier slips to 1-3-1 on the year and is still looking for a GNAC victory (0-1-1) while the Mustangs pick up their first conference win of the year, and get their record back to .500 at 3-3-1,
Mustangs junior Ryan Gray (Bayport, N.Y.) scored on the first shot of the game for either team, taking a pass from Joseph Ramsay (Peabody, Mass.) collecting his first points of the year and giving the Mustangs a 1-0 lead less than ten minutes after the opening whistle, but the hosts would fall behind after halftime with two Rivier goals in the span of three minutes.
Senior Shawn Gareau (Hardwick, Mass.) equalized in the 57th minute for the visitors when he collected a loose ball in the box and slotted his first goal of the year past Mount Ida keeper Mat Pils (Monroe, Conn.).
Minutes later, freshman Jerry Krahn (Greene, R.I.) scored his first collegiate goal by converting a penalty kick after Mount Ida was called for a hand ball on the goal line that resulted in the Mustangs being reduced to ten men for the rest of the game.
The Mustangs continued to work for the next twenty minutes, and were rewarded when Carlos Martinez (Chelsea, Mass.) tied the game at the 8:51 mark by scoring on a penalty kick of his own after he was brought down on a run into the box.
In the overtime period, senior Steve McDonald (Medford, Mass.) played Templeton into space for the game-winning score after just over seven minutes of play.
The game saw a plethora of scoring chances for each team, particularly in the second half.
Shortly into the second stanza, Mount Ida junior Oscar Lemus (Revere, Mass.) delivered a ball into the box on the head of Carlos Martinez (Chelsea, Mass.), who delivered a forceful header that Rivier goalkeeper Gary Archambault (Auburn, N.H.) made a great reflex save on.
Four minutes later, Martinez sent another attempt over the cross bar on a run from the right side.
Rivier forward Greg Freiman (Hampton, Conn.) shot a knuckling ball at the Mount Ida goal with half an hour left in the second half, which Pils leapt up and snagged out of the air.
With twenty minutes left to play, Shawn Bernardo (Peabody, Mass.) played a long ball right to the run of Martinez, but the sophomore forward sent his shot just into the netting on the right side of the goal.
Krahn nearly delivered a dramatic victory for the visitors, as he found himself 1v1 with Pils with under a minute left in regulation, but the junior goalkeeper sprawled to his right on the ground and held tight to the ball to stop any rebound opportunities.
Junior Danny Connelly (Bedford, N.H.) began a sequence that was the best chance of the first half for the Raiders when he fired a shot that Pils smartly tipped over the bar with twenty-five minutes to play. Raider freshman Kyle Gambeski (Bedford, N.H. ) snapped a header just over the top of the net on the ensuing corner kick, and the Mustangs held Rivier scoreless before the break, despite being outshot 5-3.
The home team had the shot advantage the rest of the way, outshooting Rivier 17-5 over the course of the second half and overtime, while each team had five corner kick chances.
Archambault made nine saves for the Raiders, while Pils stopped five Rivier shots in the victory.
The Raiders will be at New England College for a non-conference game of their own that starts an hour later.
Mount Ida will travel to Emerson on Wednesday at 6:00 pm for a mid-week non-conference affair.
