Cardeiro Guides Men's Soccer Past Springfield, 2-1

Springfield, Mass. – The Framingham State University Rams held off a comeback by the Springfield College Pride as they held on for a 2-1 victory in non-conference men's soccer play on Brock-Affleck Field Tuesday night.

The Rams improved to 4-4-2 with the win, while Springfield dropped to 2-8-1.

The visitors netted the only goal of the first half just 8:05 into the contest on sophomore Cory Cardeiro's  (Westport, Mass.) first goal of the night. Cardeiro got to goal thanks to a terrific individual effort, dribbling from the top of the box to the end line before finishing into the top shelf from a very difficult angle.

Springfield nearly tied the game with just over 26 minutes left in the half.  Zach Dutter delivered a terrific through ball to Michael Fowler, who in turn blasted his one-on-one bid directly at the Rams goalkeeper, Sam Yoder (Southbridge, Mass.).

The Pride finally broke through to even the game in the 58th minute with Drew Sommer factoring in on an assist after a long cross into the box from just inside the midfield line. Mike Desroches freed himself from his defender, settled the ball, and blasted a shot from six yards out to knot the game.

Cardeiro struck less than 10 minutes later for what would prove to be the game-winner. Following a Framingham State corner kick, Cardeiro collected a deflected ball and buried a shot from eight yards out into the top right corner of the net.

Springfield finished the contest with a 13-10 advantage in shots and a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.

Brett Bascom made four saves, including a pair of sprawling stops in the first half in the loss, while Yoder posted four saves for the victory.

The Pride will now prep for an important conference match at home against Clark on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., while the Rams travel to MASCAC foe Bridgewater State on Saturday at 11 a.m. 

Release courtesy of Springfield Sports Information.