Men’s Soccer Plays to 1-1 Draw at Westfield

Westfield, Mass.- Framingham State junior Isaac De Souza (Sao Paulo, Brazil) scored in the 61^st minute to even the score and the Rams and host Westfield State played to a 1-1 tie at Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon.

THE BASICS:

- Score: Framingham State 1, Westfield State 1 (2 OT)

- Records:  Framingham State (3-2-1, 0-0-1 MASCAC), Westfield State (1-3-1, 0-0-1 MASCAC)

- Location: Alumni Field – Westfield, Mass.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Owls got on the board early in the 14th minute when senior Josh Baillargeon (Russell, Mass.) booted home a beautiful pass from freshman Liam Kelly (Braintree, Mass.). After the early goal, Westfield State continued with a flurry of offense, but were unable to put another one past Rams goalkeeper Corey Davidge (Blackstone, Mass.).
• Westfield and Framingham would trade chances throughout the rest of the first half, until a red card was given to sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Diotalevi (Ludlow, Mass.) forcing the Owls to play a man down for the remainder of the match.
• The Rams eventually capitalized on the man advantage in the 61st minute when De Souza put one past the dive of Seam Moore (Feeding Hills, Mass.) after a nice feed from Bryce Nardizzi (Framingham, Mass.) to level the score at 1-1. 
• In the 94th minute, Framingham's Ken Stahovish (Springfield, Mass.) kicked one just wide off of a nice cross from Akeem Bucknor (Manchester, Jamaica), keeping the game knotted at one.
• Moments later in the 98th minute, sophomore Jason Haji (Shrewsbury, Mass.) slid the ball over to Sinha Kunphel (South Yarmouth, Mass.) who fired a shot riddled for the back of the net, but Davidge came up with an incredible diving save for the Rams to keep the game at 1-1.
• The two teams would trade chances in the dwindling minutes of the overtime period, but neither were able to break through, ending the game in a 1-1 draw.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Before the red card, Diotalevi made 3 saves and Moore finished with 10 for the Owls.
• Davidge finished with 5 saves for the Rams.
• The Rams held a slight advantage in shots 23-to-21.

UP NEXT:

• Westfield State will be back in action at Alumni Field on Tuesday against Western Connecticut, with kickoff at 7:00 p.m. 
• The Rams will host Fisher College on Monday with the game beginning at 4:30 p.m.

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*Release courtesy of Westfield sports information