Men's Soccer rallies but ultimately falls just short in 3-2 loss to Falcons
North Adams, MA-- The visiting Fitchburg State men's soccer got the game winning tally from Joshua Atemkeng in the 86th minute to lift the Falcons to an entertaining 3-2 victory over the MCLA Trailblazers this evening at Shewcraft Field. The win was the first of the season for Fitchburg State as they improve to 1-11 overall and are now 1-4 in the conference.
MCLA dips to 4-7-1 overall and is now 2-3 in league play.
The Falcons struck first just eight minutes into the contest when Gabriel Ramos rocketed a shot off the back of a Trailblazer defender. The deflected ball went into the right side of the net and the Falcons led 1-0. Fitchburg would hold the lead into halftime despite being outshot 9-3.
In the second half, MCLA found the equalizer in the 65th minute. Trailblazer James Murchinson would collect a beautiful through ball from Colin Rousseau and easily beat Falcon keeper Sebastian Jaramillo to tie things up at 1-1. It was Murchinson's second goal of the season.
Just two minutes later, the Falcons would regain the edge. Ramos once again had a hand in the scoring play. This time, he took a direct kick from just past midfield. His boot went deep into the box and Falcon Sean Nugent got his head on it to beat MCLA's Sam Edge. The goal gave Fitchburg a 2-1 advantage.
The Trailblazers would not go quietly and once again found paydirt in the 74th minute. This time, Rousseau connected on another nice pass, this one from Junior Florent, to tie the game once again at 2-2. It was Rousseau's first goal of the season.
The match seemed destined for overtime, but the visitors had other ideas. In the 86th minute, Atemkeng took advantage of the MCLA defense. The defense attempted to push up, but a loose ball caught the MCLA keeper off the line. Atemkeng lofted a soft shot that went over the head of Edge and easily bounced in the net for the eventual game winner. It was his second goal of the season.
Over the final three minutes, MCLA kept the pressure on and earned a few direct kicks, however they could not get the equalizer and the Falcons earned their first win of the season.
For the contest, MCLA owned a 15-7 edge in shots and a 7-4 mark in corners.
Edge stopped three shots in defeat while his counterpart Jaramillo collected six saves to earn the win.
MCLA is back in action on Wednesday when they host Keene State.