Oct. 15, 2011

Box Score

BOSTON, MASS. - Senior forward James Howard scored two second half goals while sophomore goalkeeper Donato Piroscafo recorded his eighth shutout of the season as the Albertus Magnus College men's soccer team downed Emmanuel College, 3-0, Saturday afternoon at Roberto Clemente Field in Boston, Mass. With the victory, the Falcons improve to 13-2 overall and 9-0 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action while also extending their current win-streak to 12 games. The loss drops the Saints to 9-4-4 overall and 4-4 in GNAC action.

Play was even for much of the first half that saw both sides with good chances to get on the board first. The Saints had a great look midway through the half when junior defender Pawel Samolewicz(Chicopee, Mass.) came forward on a corner kick attempt and struck a low shot towards the far post. The strike has Piroscafo beat but was sent away by his outside defender who was guarding the back post. On the redirected kick, Samolewicz had another opportunity with a header that Piroscafo was able to save before his defensive unit finally cleared the ball.

The Falcons would make a surge just before the close of the half as junior midfielder Stephen Zapata (Hamden, Conn.) had a great strike from just outside the box that almost beat Emmanuel freshman keeper Garrett Charette(West Springfield, Mass.) to his back post but the netminder was able to deflect it over the bar to prevent the goal.

Zapata would however get the Falcons on the board first with just 37 seconds left to play in the first stanza following a Saints foul inside the 18-yard box that resulted in a penalty kick for the visitors. Zapata placed the ball to the right side of the net, scoring easily as Charette guessed in the opposite direction to give the visitors the 1-0 lead heading into the half.

Play remained even for 25 minutes of the action in the second frame before Howard began to take over the game up front for the Falcons. The senior made it a 2-0 game with his team-leading 15th goal of the year when he was on the receiving end of a through ball pass on the left side of the field from sophomore midfielder Josue Galo (New Haven, Conn.) at the 72:51 marker. Howard would go on to add an insurance goal with just 2:01 remaining in the contest when he was able to dribble through the Saints back line and beat Charette from point blank range on a break-away for his conference-leading 16th marker of the season, sealing the 3-0 win for the Falcons.

Piroscafo notched three saves in net for Albertus to pick up the win and his conference-leading eighth shutout of the year while Charette finished the afternoon with eight stops for the Saints.

Prior to the game, the Saints recognized and honored their six seniors during a brief Senior Day ceremony. The Emmanuel College Athletic Department would like to thank seniors Jonny Stevens, Kelly Louis-Charles, Patrick Froass, Mathew Koenemann, Ivan Barrera and Wilhelm Du Bois for their hard work and dedication to the program over the past four years.

Emmanuel will return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 19 when they head to Northfield, V.T. in a crucial GNAC showdown that could determine home field advantage in the opening round of the GNAC playoffs while the Falcons return to the pitch on Monday, Oct. 17 when they travel to Dudley, Mass. to face Nichols College in a non-conference showdown.