Sept. 13, 2008

Box Score

Somerville, Mass. - The Emmanuel Saints took care of the Raiders of Rivier College in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer opener on Saturday afternoon. After controlling the tempo for much of the game, the Saints defeated the Raiders, 3-1, at Dilboy Stadium.

Emmanuel jumped out to an early lead, when senior midfielder Ken Bell (Boston, MA) scored unassisted just 16 minutes into the contest. The Saints netted another goal just 14 minutes later, when rookie defender Ivan Barrera (Millis, MA) completed a pretty give-and-go from junior forward Dan D'Amato (Huntington, MA) at 29:53. The Saints clung to a 2-0 lead and an 11-4 shooting advantage heading into halftime. Emmanuel's sophomore keeper Carlos Lopez (Boca Raton, FL) made 2 saves, including stopping a Raider penalty kick, in the opening half.

After the break, the Saints tacked on another goal just ten minutes in, when sophomore Gavin Molta (Southwick, MA) was assisted by junior forward Michael Evans (Yarmouth, ME) at 55:08. Emmanuel continued to control the pace and outshot Rivier, 7-3, in the second half. The Raiders scored their lone goal of the contest at 62:32, when sophomore defender Zach Zina (Ludlow, MA) scored unassisted on a breakaway. The two teams played scoreless for the remaining 28 minutes.

With this win, the Saints improved to 3-1 on the season, the best start in program history. The Raiders fell to 0-5 on the season and 0-1 in the GNAC. Emmanuel will play again on Wednesday (9/17) at Curry College in Milton, MA.