BOSTON - The Emmanuel College men's soccer team (3-4, 2-2 GNAC) dropped a tight matchup with the Great Northeast Athletic Conference's (GNAC) first place team, Johnson & Wales (7-1, 5-0 GNAC), on Saturday afternoon at a rainy Clemente Field. Despite a goal that cut the visitor's lead to one with 32 minutes remaining, the Saints were unable to find the back of the net again, falling 3-2.

A Saints error at the back got the scoring started for the Wildcats. Bruno Teixera picked up the ball in front of the Saints goal and delivered a carefully placed shot to give Johnson & Wales a 1-0 lead in 12th minute. 

Nine minutes later, first-year Rafael Matamoros swung a low flying cross in from the right side. The ball skipped past several Saints before finding first-year Aaron Picker outside of the 18-yard box. Picker fired the long-range strike, tallying his first career collegiate goal and leveling the match at one.

The Wildcats continued to press forward and in the 29th minute, found an opportunity at the penalty spot after a foul near the top of the 18-yard box. Aidan Bagley stepped up for the visitors and found the back of the net to take a 2-1 advantage. Johnson & Wales added to their lead 10 minutes later when Vincent Tredici found Carlos Andrade for a third goal as the Wildcats took a 3-1 lead into the break.

It was Aaron Picker who, once again, fired a the 58th minute strike that cut the visitor's lead to 3-2. Perhaps even more impressive than his first goal, Picker launched a shot from the left wing beyond the 18-yard box. The shot wrapped around Wildcats goalkeeper Sean Furtek, sneaking inside the far post for Picker's second goal of the match.

The Saints continued to look for the crucial third goal for the remainder of the contest. Despite four shots in the final 32 minutes, Emmanuel failed to level the match as the final horn blew with the score 3-2 in favor of Johnson & Wales.

The Wildcats rattled off 11 shots in the match with six on target while the Saints fired eight, with four on target. Emmanuel goalkeeper Maddox Pierce finished with three saves in the loss. Sean Furtek tallied two saves to earn the victory in net for Johnson & Wales.

Up next, Johnson & Wales will travel to Bristol, R.I. for a non-conference tilt with Roger Williams on Monday (9/23) at 4:00 P.M. The Saints will face a visit from Albertus Magnus in GNAC play this Wednesday (9/25) at Clemente Field, with kick-off scheduled for 7:00 P.M.