New Britain, CT - The Mercyhurst Men's Soccer team took a seven-hour trip to Connecticut to play their first Northeast Conference match of the season. They came out of the locker room after halftime down 1-0, motivated, and full of energy as they fought back to win 2-1 after two rapid fire goals.
Dylan Sumner scored the game winning goal for the twelfth time in his career.
How it Happened
One of the earlier actions of the game began with a potential penalty around the 16th minute where
Asher Johnson was potentially shoved down, but no call was given by the referee. On the counterattack of the previous play, Ethan Agyare-Danso found Arnau Rabassa Guillamon who slipped past a defender and finished the play to make it 1-0 in the 17th minute. Eight minutes later,
Dylan Sumner stood over a free kick in a decent position outside the penalty box. Unfortunately for Sumner, the shot was blocked by the wall. In the 35th minute, Guillamon had a great chance to put the Blue Devils up 2-0 but Laker goalkeeper
Danilo Abayo made a great save. The score remained 1-0 in Central Connecticut's favor at halftime.
Just 10 seconds into second half, the Blue Devils connected a few quick passes which led to Trevor Rau forcing
Danilo Abayo to make a tough save through a crowded penalty area. The Lakers were dominating possession in the second half. They had created several chances in the final third and their scoreless run was about to come to an end. In the 55th minute,
Philipp Strube sent in a dangerous free kick that found the head of
Carver Tierney. However, Blue Devils' goalkeeper Michel Pinoncely made a great reactionary save to keep the score at 1-0.
Then, in the 69th minute,
Asher Johnson sends in a beautiful, inswinging ball with his left foot that finds the head of
Frank Lovett at the back post to equalize for the Lakers. Mercyhurst did not take their foot off the gas as less than a minute later they dispossessed the Blue Devils straight from the kickoff.
Luis Felipe Santos quickly dribbled down the field, layed the ball off to
Jorge Tallada Torres, who squared it in front of
Dylan Sumner where he sent the ball between the keeper's legs to give the Lakers the 2-1 lead.
The two Laker goals in the 69th and 70th minute were enough to give them their first conference win and get
Austin Solomon's side back to winning ways.
Highlights
Dylan Sumner scored his second goal of the season and 32
nd of his career.
Frank Lovett scored his first goal of the season.
Danilo Abayo and Michel Pinoncely both made six saves.
Up Next
The Lakers will finally play their first home match of the season this Sunday, October 6
th as they host the Chicago State Cougars. That match will kick off at Saxon Stadium at 1:00 PM. Viewers can tune in to live coverage on the NEC Front Row.
