Men’s Soccer Outpaced by Nichols 4-1 in Opening Match of Soccer Classic
NORTH ADAMS, Mass.--Nichols College junior William Pugiese-Savage scored a pair of second half goals today leading the Bison to a 4-1 victory in the opening game of the 2023 MCLA Soccer Classic over the host Trailblazers. The win was the 200th in the career of Nichols head coach Chris Traina and evened the Bison record at 2-2 while dropping the Trailblazers to 1-1 on the season.
Coming out of the half down 2-0 MCLA would cut the lead in half as Marcos Lopez drew a foul in the box and capitalized on the penalty kick less than four minutes into the second half.
The Lopez goal shifted momentum and led to several excellent scoring opportunities for the Trailblazers that unfortunately were either squandered or turned away by Bison keeper Derek Axon (W, 1-1) who in addition to making 9 saves on the day, registered an assist on the firstPugiese-Savage goal in the 63rd minute. Pugiese-Savage's second tally in the 72nd minute made it 4-1 leaving no doubt of the outcome.
Nichols outshot MCLA 19-15 with both teams putting ten on net. Trailblazer starting keeper Ryan Taylor L, (1-1) made 5 saves in the loss.
Both teams will be back in action tomorrow as the MCLA Soccer Classic shifts venues to Farley-Lamb Field on the campus of neighboring Williams College. Nichols will face Western Connecticut at 3pm and MCLA takes on SUNY Potsdam at 5:30pm.