Men's Soccer advances to MASCAC semi's with 2-0 shutout at Framingham State

Courtesy of Framingham Sports Information

Framingham, Mass. – The fifth seed MCLA men's soccer team tallied a pair of second half goals to defeat the fourth seeded Framingham State University Rams 2-0 in one quarterfinal match of the 2014 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Soccer Championship Tournament.   

With the victory, the Trailblazers improve to 7-7-3 on the year and advance to the semifinal round of the Men's Soccer Championships.  MCLA will travel to top seed Bridgewater State University on Friday evening at 7 p.m.  The Rams see their season come to a close at 5-12-1.

Both teams had their chances to score early as both offenses were firing on all cylinders at the start.  MCLA sophomore Anthony Basile (East Longmeadow, Mass.) fired a blast from the top of the box, but hit the post just under five minutes into the contest.  Two minutes later, Basile had a breakaway and drew the Ram keeper off his line, but his bid sailed just wide of the post.  The Rams had a scoring chance in between Basile's two opportunities.  Freshman Suhairu Kato (Ludlow, Mass.) collected a loose ball in the box and fired a shot that was saved by the Trailblazers.

The Rams best chance to score down the stretch of the first half came with just over 10 minutes remaining when freshman Jamie Plowman (Westborough, Mass.) received a pass in the box and laid down a well-placed shot that hit the far post and bounced toward the goal line.  MCLA goalkeeper Matt Robinson (Petersham, Mass.) was able to pounce on the loose ball before it could roll over the goal line sending the game to half scoreless.

MCLA grabbed the lead in the opening minutes of the second when sophomore Edward Boateng (Worcester, Mass.) curved a corner kick inside the far post at 54:02.  The Trailblazers nearly doubled the lead a minute later but it was negated on an offside call.

The Rams had a chance to tie the game in the 71^st minute.  Junior Cory Cardiero (Fall River, Mass.) sent a long cross to freshman CJ Alimonti (Peabody, Mass.) in the box. Alimonti got a shot off, but Robinson came up with the big save. 

MCLA added an insurance goal in the 75^th minute to extend the lead to 2-0.  Sophomore Romeo Grey (Mashpee, Mass.) carried the ball down the right side and sent a cross through the box to Basile who redirected it into the back of the net.

The Rams outshot the Trailblazers 28-12 in the game and held a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks.  Robinson picked up the victory in net for the Trailblazers making nine saves, while sophomore Jacob Nichols (Sturbridge, Mass.) made three saves for the Rams.