SHORTHANDED PRIDE BESTED BY ANCHORMEN

SHORTHANDED PRIDE BESTED BY ANCHORMEN

WESTON, Mass. – Komla Dogbey (Providence, R.I.) was a force to be reckoned with as he scored a hat-trick and led the offensive attack for Rhode Island College as the Anchormen defeated the Regis College Pride 5-2 in non-conference men's soccer action on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Anchormen evened their record at 2-2 and with the loss the Pride dropped to 3-2 on the young season.

Regis was forced to play the majority of the match shorthanded as junior midfielder Marek Kotecki (Milton, Mass.) was awarded a red card after slide tacking senior forward Jose Zarraga (Providence, R.I.) in the box. Zarraga was awarded a penalty kick and buried the shot putting the Pride down three goals only 11:30 into the match.

The Pride started out the match by driving the ball down the opposing end. They were awarded a corner kick only 37 seconds into the contest. Senior midfielder Renato Rosas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) lofted the ball into the box onto the foot of sophomore forward Brendan Plasczynski (Bristol, Conn.). Plasczynski wasted no time and rifled a one timer towards the net, but was immediately turned away by Anchormen goalie Chris Moura (Rumford. R.I.). This marked Regis' best chance of the half as RIC took control of the game.

Four minutes later, the Anchormen opened the scoring after Dogbey received the ball at midfield, streaked down the center of the pitch and beat Pride goaltender Manny Santiago (Bristol, Conn.) one-on-one to put RIC in front 1-0, a lead they would never relinquish.

Dogbey added his second goal of the game during the 10th minute when he and Jose Zarraga connected on a give-and-go at midfield. Zarraga crossed the ball into the box to a waiting Dogbey who ripped a shot to the bottom right of the net. Zarraga then added a goal about a minute later on a penalty shot.

RIC added their fourth goal of the half after Dennis Vasquez (Providence, R.I.) corralled a loose ball in front of the open net and tapped it in.

Komla Dogbey scored the hat-trick goal in the 63rd minute after Vasquez's initial shot attempt was blocked by Manny Santiago, but rebounded right to Dogbey who knocked the ball home to put the Anchormen up 5-0.

Three minutes later, Regis cracked the scoring column with Derek Triana's (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) first career collegiate goal. Renato Rosas added another goal during a penalty shot, but it wasn't enough as the Pride fell 5-2.

Manny Santiago made seven saves in 76:03 minutes for the Pride and was replaced in net by freshman Andrew Barros (Malden, Mass.) who played in his first ever college contest. Chris Moura made three saves during the victory and was replaced by Alexander LaBreche (Lincoln, R.I.) for the start of the second half. LaBreche made one save in goal.

The Crimson and Gold wrapped up their home stand with a 2-1 record and will head down to Anna Maria College on Monday, September 14 for a 4:00 p.m. showdown with the AMCATS.