MCLA men fall on the road at Salem 2-1

Salem, MA- MCLA senior Mitch Maselli scored his first goal of the season, but it wasn't enough as MCLA fell to Salem State 2-1 this afternoon in MASCAC soccer action.  With the setback, the Trailblazers are now 4-3-1, including 1-1 in conference play while Salem improves to 2-0 in the conference.

Salem State Junior Rafael Santos (East Boston, MA) scored the go-ahead goal early in the second half.  Santos scored his second game-winning goal of the year at the 53:23 mark, beating MCLA goalie Adam Tarsa (Adams, MA) to give Salem State their third straight win.

Maselli (Clarksburg, MA) gave MCLA a 1-0 lead just 6:28 into the game on a feed from Luke Davis (Bedford, MA). However, David Miller (Lancaster, PA) answered with the equalizer just 42 seconds later when he fired a rocket past goaltender Tarsa. Salem State pressured the Trailblazers in the first half, managing six shots to just three for MCLA. The Vikings had a chance to take the lead at the 32:00 minute mark when a loose ball came free in front of the Trailblazers net. However, Tarsa corralled the ball before Salem State could gather a shot.

Salem State dominated play early, outshooting MCLA 15-4 in the first half, but the Trailblazers evened the shot total at nine apiece in the second half.

Luis Marques (Fall River, MA) made eight saves to pick up his third win of the year, while Tarsa stopped 10 shots in the loss.

The victory improves Salem State to 3-2-2 and 2-0 in conference, while MCLA drops to 4-3-1, and 1-1 in the MASCAC.

Both teams are in action on Tuesday, September 28th, when MCLA travels to Skidmore while the Vikings host Eastern Connecticut. Both games begin at 7:00 PM.