Men’s Soccer Dominate Framingham State in MASCAC Opener

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.—The MCLA Men's Soccer Team kicked off the conference portion of their slate this evening when they welcomed Framingham State to Shewcraft Field. Five different Trailblazers found their way to the scorers' column as MCLA snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Rams. The game was the fourth win in a row for the MCLA.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Friday, September 20, 2024
• Score: Framingham State 1, MCLA 5
• Records: Framingham State Rams 0-5-2 (MASCAC 0-1-0) | MCLA Trailblazers 4-3-0 (MASCAC 1-0-0)
• Series History: MCLA leads the all-time series between the teams 26-18-2, including a 2-0 Framingham win in their last meeting at Framingham on September 16, 2023. The Rams also won the first-ever meeting between the teams by a score of 3-1 in 1972.

HIGHLIGHTS

• In the 10^th minute, MCLA used a senior connection to make their opening gambit, scoring off a corner kick by senior defender Ronan Connors (Hamilton, MA) into senior midfielder Marcos Lopez (Albany, NY) at the near post. Lopez then found senior midfield Jacob Richardson (Adams, MA) wide open at the top of the 18-yard box for a line drive shot into the lower left corner of the goal. The goal was Richardson's first of the season and the second of his career.
• In the 21^st minute, the Trailblazers doubled their lead when a poor clearing effort by Framingham found Connors along the right sideline. Connors fed the ball ahead to Lopez, who forced the play into the 18-yard box and fed Traizen Griffith (Enfield, CT) for a laser shot toward the upper right corner of the goal. Rams' goalkeeper Tyler Holden made a supreme stop but allowed the rebound to fall directly to the foot of Jacob Malburg (Amesbury, MA) for a wide-open shot from mere feet out. The goal was Malburg's fourth of the season.
• MCLA would add a third first-half goal in the 42^nd minute, making the most of another failed clear attempt by the visitors. This time, senior midfielder Avani Richardson (Amherst, MA) intercepted the ball just outside the center circle to start the play. Richardson fed the ball ahead to junior forward Avery Manzolini (New Lebanon, NY), who found a streaking Mateo Phillips (Pittsfield, MA) for an easy chip shot past the goalie. The goal was the sophomore forward's first of the season and sent the teams into the halftime break with MCLA ahead 3-0.
• Phillips contributed to the fourth MCLA goal in the 68^th minute by firing off a shot from about 10 yards out that Framingham net minder Michael Walker attempted to fall on in front of the net, but the ball instead rebounded out to freshman midfielder Kyle Almeida (Averill Park, NY) for another short chip shot goal for the hosts.
• The Trailblazers kept their foot on the gas, scoring again in the 79^th minute to go up 4-0. Freshman defender Luke Muhlestein (Salt Lake City, UT) picked up the ball near midfield and fed it ahead to Manzolini, who turned with the ball and slid it ahead to senior forward Ethan Smith (Brookline, NH), who split through three Ram defenders and lined a low shot into the right corner of the goal. The tally was the first of the season for Smith and the third of his career.
• The Rams did find their way onto the scoreboard in the 81st minute, converting on a penalty kick by Abdellah Eddahbi, which would provide the game's final score of 5-1.
• MCLA's senior goalkeeper Ryan Taylor saw his record improve to 4-2-0 after picking up five saves on six shots. Framingham's Holden was saddled with the loss to drop to 0-3-0 despite picking up four saves in the first half before giving way to Walker, who picked up five stops on seven shots.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The win was the Trailblazers' first regular season victory against Framingham State in nearly 20 years. Since MCLA defeated the Rams 3-0 on October 30, 2004, MCLA had only picked up one outright win over the Rams (a 2-0 MASCAC playoff win on November 4, 2014). The teams had twice played to 1-1 ties in that period, first in 2005 and then again in 2014.

UP NEXT:

On Tuesday, MCLA will be back in action when they travel to Vermont State-Lyndon for a non-conference matchup with the Hornets at Varsity Field. The teams will take the pitch for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.

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