Men's Soccer Drops Season Opener to MIT in OT
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Framingham State men's soccer team dropped their regular-season opener 1-0 in overtime to MIT Tuesday night at Steinbrenner Stadium. Sophomore Joshua Wilson (West Chester, Pa.) deposited the game winning marker into the back of the net in the 98th minute to lead MIT to victory.
At the 97:55 mark of the game, junior Austin Freel (San Diego, Calif.) gathered the ball on the near sideline after a turnover from the Rams deep in the corner. Freel punched the ball out the 20-yard line at the top of the box where Wilson was double-guarded. Wilson gathered the ball and fired a shot just out of reach of the outstretched goalkeeper that sealed the victory. Wilson picked up his first career game winning goal and second marker as a member of the Engineers' soccer program.
Both teams had multiple scoring chances throughout the contest, but both goalkeepers kept the score at 0-0 all the way through regulation play. Freel booted a free kick from the 30-yard line in the 29th minute, but junior goalkeeper Josh Arno (Natick, Mass.) dove to his right and gathered the ball in the box preventing it from entering the net.
With under a minute remaining in regulation time, Rams' senior forward Cory Cardeiro (Fall River, Mass.) headed the ball into the hands of Engineers' sophomore net minderRyan Stuntz (Wellesley, Mass.) on a feed from freshman forward Lucas Mederios (Hudson, Mass.) which sent the game to extra time.
Stuntz registered his first career win and shutout in net with three saves on the afternoon, the biggest coming as the seconds ticked off of the clock at the end of regulation. Arno recorded six saves, but was handed the loss (0-1) in the season opening overtime thriller.
MIT outshot Framingham State by a margin of 29-7 and held an 11-1 advantage in corner kicks.
MIT (1-0-0) is off until next Wednesday, September 9, when the Engineers host Keene State in a non-conference tilt at 7:00 p.m., while Framingham State (0-1-0) welcomes UMass. Dartmouth on Saturday, September 5 for its home opener at 11:00 a.m.
*Release courtesy of MIT athletic communications