Men’s Soccer Await Fate After 6-2 Loss at Bridgewater

BRIDGEWATER, Mass.—The MCLA Men's Soccer Team wrapped up their regular season by welcoming Bridgewater State to Shewcraft Field for a MASCAC matchup with the Bears. While Bridgewater had the top seed in the upcoming MASCAC playoffs sealed up, the Trailblazers' possibilities were anywhere between the fourth seed and the home game associated with it to missing the playoff entirely. MCLA got goals from Jacob Malburg and Avery Manzolini, while five different Bears combined for six goals.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Friday, November 1, 2024
• Score: MCLA 2, BSU 6
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 7-8-2 (MASCAC 2-4-1) | Bridgewater State University Bears 10-5-2 (MASCAC 6-1-0)
• Series History: Bridgewater State leads the all-time series 26-18-2, including a 3-0 win last season on October 27^th in North Adams. MCLA won the teams' first-ever meeting during the 1975 season by a score of 5-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• MCLA scored the game's first goal when junior forward Jacob Malburg (Amesbury, MA) knocked home the rebound of a shot from sophomore forward Traizen Griffith (Enfield, CT) in the 17^th minute. The goal was Malburg's fifth of the season.
• The MCLA lead would last until the 26^th minute when Bridgewater's Hector Bucio scored an unassisted goal. The Bears then added another goal in the 39^th minute from Carsten Boloz, assisted by Flippo Mucci, to go into the mid-game break up 2-1.
• Bridgewater extended their lead in the second half, getting goals from Gavin Norton (48^th minute, assisted by Mucci and Bucio), Nicolas Matias (60^th minute, assisted by Mucci and Dominek Borden), and Bucio (64^th minute, assisted by Borden and Matias).
• MCLA attempted to get back into the game, cutting the Bridgewater lead to three when junior forward Avery Manzolini (New Lebanon, NY) took a pass from senior forward Ethan Smith (Brookline, NH) and fired off a shot from about 15 yards out and past the diving Bears' keeper. The goal was Manzolini's fifth of the year. Senior defender Conor Green (Bolton, MA) joined Smith and was credited with assists.
• Less than a minute later, Bridgewater returned their lead to four goals when Conor Wesloski scored his first goal of the season (80^th minute, assisted by Melvin Alves and Thomas Neves).
• The Bears' Lukas Ekmanis stopped one of the two shots he faced and improved his season record to 8-4-1, while the Trailblazers' keeper Ryan Taylor stopped ten of the 16 shots he faced and evened his record at 6-6-1.

UP NEXT:

MCLA will await the results of the MASCAC games tomorrow to learn their playoff fate.

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