BOSTON – Regis College picked up an early goal, and then the Pride defense, backstopped by senior goalie Freddie Beckmann (Franklin, Mass.), held off the offensive attack by Emmanuel College, as the Pride defeated the Saints, 1-0, Wednesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's soccer match at Roberto Clemente Field.
The Pride gained possession and drove down the field, eventually drawing a corner kick opportunity in the ninth minute. Luke Ayotte (Cromwell, Conn.) sent the ball into the box, where Federico Lavini-Ayalla (Weston, Fla.) met it with a header that found the back of the net for his second goal of the season.
Emmanuel immediately responded with several scoring chances, but Beckmann would not allow any shots past him. The Saints would take three shots within the last five-and-a-half minutes of the first half, but attempts by Jack Minas and Kyle Monaghan sailed wide and Beckmann turned away a shot from Joey Soucy as halftime approached.
Regis nearly took advantage of another corner kick opportunity in the 55th minute, with Ayotte finding Santiago Pedraza Novak (Bogota, Colombia) for a shot that was stopped by Saint goalie Vincent Conelli. The Pride defense played a significant role in keeping the Saints off the scoreboard, blocking shots by Adom Oshagan and Ryan McKinney a few minutes later.
The Saints seemingly increased their offensive pressure in the final 12 minutes of regulation, drawing four corner kicks and taking 10 shots in that span. Beckmann collected six saves down the stretch, and a little luck also sided with the Pride as a shot by Soucy in the 88th minute hit the crossbar.
Beckmann finished with a career-high 14 saves as he earned his fourth shutout of the season. Emmanuel ended up with 26 total shots, led by Alec Erskine with five total shots and three other Saint players with four shots apiece.
Regis (7-7-2, 5-5-2 GNAC) moves into sixth place in the final GNAC regular season standings and, as the sixth seed, heads to Providence, R.I., to face third seed Johnson & Wales in the quarterfinals of the GNAC Men's Soccer Tournament.