Men’s Soccer Concludes Regular Season with Eye on GNAC Tournament

WESTON, Mass. - In its final match of the regular season, Regis College saw its five-match winning streak snapped as Salem State earned a 3-1 victory Tuesday in a non-conference men's collegiate soccer match at Regis Stadium.

Salem State (11-3-3) struck first in the 20^th minute as Brendan Walsh sent a long pass towards the box, where Vanilton Xavier corralled it and blasted a shot into the net for his 10^th goal of the season. Xavier created another scoring opportunity five minutes later, but his first attempt bounced off the crossbar back towards him and his second chance sailed high.

In the 39^th minute, Walaeddine Hounane collected a loose ball in the box and scored his fifth goal of the season to give the Vikings a 2-0 advantage. However, the Pride immediately struck back, as Jacob Freitas (Dracut, Mass.) sent a crossing pass from the right side into the box, where Sebastian Ortiz (Carolina, Puerto Rico) connected on a header into the net for his second goal of the season.

The Vikings added an insurance goal in the 57^th minute as Xavier received a long pass from Dylan Senra and avoided the Pride defense on the way to his second goal of the match. Salem State outshot Regis, 11-6, including a 6-1 advantage in the second half after each team took five shots in the first half.

Kyle Weidemann (Piscataway, N.J.) received his first career collegiate start in net for the Pride and made one save before Caleb Russo (Brookfield, N.H.) took over for the second half. Matt Hauntsman played close to 84 minutes in net for the Vikings and was credited with three saves as he earned the victory.

Regis College (6-10) finished in eighth place in the final GNAC regular season standings with 18 points and will host ninth seed Emmanuel in the first round of the GNAC Men's Soccer Tournament Thursday, Oct. 26, starting at 5 p.m. at Regis Stadium. The Saints defeated the Pride Sept. 23 in Boston, 2-0.