WESTON, Mass. - Devin Brady (Springfield, Vt.) scored his first career goal to help lead the Regis College men's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Eastern Nazarene College on a rainy and cold Wednesday night in Weston, Mass. The Pride improve to 3-7 on the year, while the Lions fall to 4-6.
Regis had the first chance in the opening five minutes of play as Brendan Plasczynski (Bristol, Conn.) played a cross into the box to Dillon Lanctot (Somersworth, N.H.). Lanctot played the ball back to Graham Sutherland (North Kingstown, R.I.) who tried to go opposite post from 25 yards out, but the ball bent just wide of its mark as it remained a 0-0 game.
Nearly seven minutes later, the Lions put together their first chance as Erick Pinaud (Norwalk, Conn.) came streaking down the right side with possession. Pinaud passed the ball to the top of the box where Omar Cruz (Gaithersburg, Md.) found himself with an open shot, but he missed wide. Pinaud nearly put ENC on top five minutes later as he beat his defender and tried to go over the head of the Regis keeper Greg Koutroukas (Watertown, Mass.), and the ball glanced off the crossbar and out of play.
In the 24th minute, Plsasczynski played another cross into the box that was cleared away by the Eastern Nazarene defense, leading to a Regis corner. Renato Rosas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) took the kick and got the ball to Collin Thurston (Temecula, Calif.), who slipped a pass opposite post to Devin Brady and the freshman tapped it home for his first career goal. The goal would stand as the lone tally in the half as the Pride entered the break with a 1-0 lead.
The Lions nearly found the equalizer in the 49th minute when Scott Hansen (Middletown Springs, Vt.) got in behind the Regis defense and beat Koutroukas with a shot that bounced off the goal post.
Regis got some insurance in the 57th minute when Renato Rosas played another corner kick into the box, that deflected off an ENC defender and into the net to give Regis the 2-0 lead.
Chasing two goals, Eastern Nazarene turned up the offense, stringing together several good chances. Cruz played a through ball to Andrew Nelson (Burtonsville, Md.) who stayed onside long enough to get the pass. Nelson wound up and fired a shot, but it sailed left of the goal post. 10 minutes later, the Lions were awarded a free kick just outside the box. Austin Boucher (Mansfield, Mass.) played the kick into the box, and it found the head of David Eddings (Endicott, N.Y.). Eddings' header was aimed at the top left corner of the box, and Koutroukas jumped into the air and kept the ball from crossing the line.
Eastern Nazarene made one final push in the 88th minute as Eddings played a ball down the middle to Nelson. Nelson beat his defender and took on Koutroukas one-on-one, and the freshman was up to the task, stopping the shot to his left. Off the rebound, Scott Hansen fired a shot on the open net, but Plasczynski stepped in front and kicked the ball out of play to preserve the two goal lead. The Regis defense held on for the final 90 seconds to grab their third win of the season.
The Lions held a 12-11 shot advantage in the game, while Regis attempted three corner kicks to ENC's two. Greg Koutroukas made four saves in the contest to earn his second win of the year. Jake Johnson (Mount Bethel, Pa.) made five saves in the setback.
Regis returns to New England Collegiate Conference play on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Lesley University for a 1:00 p.m. matchup. Eastern Nazarene will try and halt a four game skid when they take on the Wentworth Institute of Technology at 12:00 p.m. in a Commonwealth Coast Conference game.