Men's Soccer drops tough 1-0 decision to Framingham State, awaits playoff seeding
The MCLA Men's Soccer team fell 1-0 this afternoon on Senior Day at Shewcraft Field
North Adams, MA- The MCLA Men's Soccer entered today's matchup needing a win to keep their hopes alive of a MASCAC regular season championship. The visiting Framingham State University Rams however, received a goal from Gerardo Ramirez in the 82nd minute and would hold on to win 1-0 over the Trailblazers.
With the win, the Rams (8-10, 4-3 MASCAC) are going to be the third seed in next week's MASCAC Championships and host Fitchburg State on Tuesday. MCLA (8-7-1, 3-3-1 MASCAC) will be in the tournament and will either be the fourth or fifth seed depending on tonight's result between Bridgewater State and Worcester State.
The Trailblazers and Rams hooked up in a physical battle that saw 27 fouls and 9 cards handed out. MCLA had some great chances to score in the opening half, but hit the post, the crossbar, and forced a Ram defender to clear a ball off the line. However after 45 minutes of play, it was scoreless.
Not much had changed in the second half until the Rams finally broke through in the 82nd minute. FSU's Johance Liverpool lofted a long pass that Ramirez beat the MCLA defense too. Trailblazer keeper Kamron Anderson attempted to come off the line to stop him, however Ramirez lofted a soft shot over the head of Anderson giving the Rams the 1-0 edge. It was his second goal of the season.
MCLA mounted a few shots over the final eight minutes, however Josh Arno was outstanding all afternoon and kept the shutout intact. Arno collected 9 saves on the afternoon including many from close range to earn the win.
Anderson stopped four shots in defeat for the Trailblazers.
MCLA owned a slim 22-19 shot advantage on the afternoon over the Rams and each side had six corner kicks.
Prior to the contest, MCLA honored their ten seniors playing their final regular season game at Shewcraft field: Sakan Sadowsky, Anthony Basile, Dylan Pereira, Ed Boateng, Jesse Moore, Nolan Burke, Rodger Coryell, Andrew Haier, Kwadwo Kusi, and Patrick Mahoney.
