Sept. 15, 2009

Box Score

CHICOPEE, MA - Elms College senior defender Ben Masse (Chicopee, Mass.) netted the game-winning goal off a deflected save to break a 1-1 tie with 4:06 remaining in overtime to lift the Blazers to its first victory of the season, 2-1 over Emmanuel College in Tuesday evening's non-conference men's soccer game at Leary Field. With the win, Elms improves to 1-3 overall, while Emmanuel drops to 1-3 on the season.

With the score knotted at 1-1, Masse fired a shot, which deflected off Emmanuel goalkeeper Carlos Perez (Boca Raton, Fla.), allowing Masse to control the rebound and place the ball in the back of the net to give Elms its first win of the season.

After playing to a scoreless first half, junior midfielder Sam Senecal (Chicopee, Mass.) hit sophomore forward Nick Espinola (Derry, N.H.) on a beautiful cross that Espinola smashed from 20 yards out to give the Blazers their first goal of the season and a 1-0 lead. The goal came just 1:13 into the second half.

The Saints evened the contest at 1-1 when Emmanuel's senior captain Byron Glaus (Rumford, Maine) sent a free kick just inside the right goal post in the 64th minute of play.

Elms had its best shooting performance of the season as Masse finished with five of the squad's 13 on the evening. Senecal and Espinola finished with two shots each. Sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Sullivan (Agawam, MA) was stellar in the winning effort collecting 10 saves. Rookie Kevin Shirley (Madison, CT) paced the Emmanuel offense with six shots, while five other players delivered two shots each.

The Blazers return to action on Thursday, Sept. 17 when they travel to Albertus Magnus College to face the Falcons at 4pm. Emmanuel is back in action on Saturday in a home GNAC match vs. Mount Ida College at 1pm.