WESTON, Mass. – The Lesley University men's soccer team dropped a New England Collegiate Conference matchup to Elms College 2-1 this afternoon on the campus of Regis College. The defeat brings the Lynx to 4-9 overall and 1-3 in conference play while the Blazers improve to 5-10 on the season and 3-1 in the NECC.
Each side finished the first half with three shots apiece but the Blazers were the only side able to break through. Elms sophomore James Kukharchuk (West Springfield, Mass.) opened the scoring for the Blazers in the 15th minute of action to give the guests an early 1-0 lead. Kukharchuk deposited his first goal of the season as he finished a feed from classmate C.J. Dabkowski (Bristol, Conn.).
The Lynx had an opportunity to even the match at 1-1 at 28:17 when junior Mahmoud Chabarek (Alepo, Syria) fired a shot at the Blazers cage but Elms senior keeper Nicholson Pennant (St. Andrew, Jamaica) corralled the attempt to keep Lesley scoreless.
Lesley registered the equalizer ten minutes into the second half as junior Harrison Sidell (Newhall, Calif.) beat Pennant for his fifth tally of the season. The goal was Sidell's fourth in his last five games.
With just 12-minutes to go in the second half, Blazers sophomore Donald Whittle (Somers, Conn.) broke the tie as he beat Lynx keeper Chase Donley (Elizabethtown, Pa.) with his team-leading eighth tally of the year to give the Blazers the 2-1 win.
Pennant made two stops in the win for the Blazers as he improves to 4-6-0 on the year while his counterpart, Donley, suffered the loss to fall to 4-8-0.
The Lynx will look to get back in the win column on Tuesday when they host Becker College in an NECC tilt at 8:00p. The Blazers will open a two-game homestand on Tuesday as they will also return to conference play with a 4:00p match against Southern Vermont College.