WESTON, Mass. – Regis College sophomore Don Gomez (Lynn, Mass.) scored in the 47th minute and the Pride defense held off a late offensive push to defeat Emerson College, 1-0, on Wednesday night in non-conference men's soccer action in Weston, Mass. The Pride pick up their first win of 2014 to move to 1-1, while Emerson drops to 0-1-1.
The two teams played to a 0-0 draw in the opening half as the Lions outshot Regis at a 9-6 clip. Emerson nearly struck first when Ryan Carino (Granite Bay, Calif.) took a free kick from 30 yards out and tried to bend it inside the left post. Regis keeper Manny Calderon (Bristol, Conn.) dove to his right and made the save to keep the Lions off the board. Nearly five minutes later, Ole Eriksen (Asker, Norway) played a ball that went in front of the goal to the feet of Alex Van Pelt (Pine Bush, N.Y.), but the junior was turned away by Calderon.
Regis had its first chance in the 32nd minute as Amandio Ferreira (Dorchester, Mass.) threw the ball into Renato Rosas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), which led to a give-and-go for Ferreira. Ferreira shot a ball towards the top of the frame, and Emerson's Henri Fischer (Atlanta, Ga.) made a leaping save to preserve the tie.
Don Gomez checked into the game and made his presence felt immediately, forcing a pair of turnovers that led to chances for the Pride. Gomez stole the ball from the Emerson defense and walked into the box unmarked, but Fischer was there to send the Gomez shot away. Nearly eight minutes later, Gomez intercepted a pass and walked in on Jacob Sigler (Yorktown, N.Y.), who had replaced Fischer, but his shot sailed wide right and the two teams entered the break tied at 0-0.
After the break, Gomez finally broke through for the Pride as he received a through ball at midfield from Trevor Hamilton (Winchester, Mass.). Gomez used a nifty dribble move to beat the keeper and blasted the ball into the open net to give the Pride the 1-0 advantage. Gomez had a chance a few minutes later, dribbling through the Lions defense, and firing on net, only to be turned away by Sigler.
Emerson turned up the offense trailing by one, and the Regis defense was up to the task. After the Regis goal, Emerson put three shots on net, that were all turned away by rookie keeper Greg Koutroukas (Watertown, Mass.). In the final 22 minutes of action, the Lions outshot the Pride 7-0, but could not break through as Koutroukas continued his strong play in net and the Regis defense did their best to keep possession. Ole Eriksen had the last chance for Emerson in the 87th minute, but his shot sailed wide of its mark and the Regis defense cleared the zone to grab their first win of the year.
The Lions outshot the Pride at a 19-14 clip and held a 7-5 advantage in corner kicks. Greg Koutroukas picked up his first career win for Regis by making five saves in the second half of play, while Calderon added four in the opening 45 minutes. Jacob Sigler suffered the setback to fall to 0-1-1 on the year and made two saves after replacing Henri Fischer.
Regis is back in action on Saturday afternoon when the Pride hosts Albertus Magnus College at 1:00 p.m. Emerson continues the search for their first win of the season next Wednesday when the Lions host Newbury College at 6:00 p.m.