HENNIKER, N.H. – An early goal held up for New England College, as the Pilgrims defeated the Regis College Pride, 1-0, Tuesday afternoon in a non-conference men's collegiate soccer match at Don Melander Field.
New England College (3-4) put early pressure on the Regis defense, taking three shots within the first two minutes of the match. With just under five minutes off the clock, NEC goalie Robbie Ferguson set up Alex Rust to put the Pilgrims on the board.
Regis started putting its offensive system to work, drawing a corner kick opportunity in the 13th minute, but a header by Diego Roman (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) sailed high. The ball seemed to stay in the midfield through the rest of the first half as the Pilgrims maintained their one-goal advantage into halftime.
The Pilgrims created scoring chances early in the second half, but a shot by Wiskens Flavil was turned away by Regis goalie Josh Barrows (Rochester, N.Y.), and consecutive shots by Panagiotis Galatas sailed wide. In the 75th minute, Branden Tan (Bodrum, Turkey) had an opportunity to tie the match, but Ferguson was able to make the save, and consecutive corner kicks by the Pride did not yield any shots.
The Pride kept the pressure on in the final 10 minutes of regulation, but two shots by Santiago Pedraza Novak (Bogota, Colombia) were off-target. In the end, New England College outshot Regis, 14-6.
Playing a complete match for the first time as a collegiate goalie, Barrows collected three saves, while Ferguson was credited with just the one save on Tan. Galatas led all players with four total shots, and Flavil finished with three shots in the match.
Regis (1-3) opens Great Northeast Athletic Conference play Saturday, Sept. 21, at Colby-Sawyer starting at 4 p.m. After a road match at Dean College Wednesday, Sept. 25, the Pride return home for a Regis Fest contest against Emmanuel beginning at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28.