CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Lesley University men's soccer team fell to Daniel Webster College, 1-0, to open New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action, Saturday evening. First year midfielder Kevin Herrera (Metapan, El Salvador) scored his first goal of his collegiate career off six minutes into overtime.
The Eagles open conference play at 1-0 and climb back to .500 on the year improving to 3-3 while the Lynx fall to 1-5 and open NECC action at 0-1.
Both teams return to the pitch Wednesday September 21st as Lesley goes on the road to Babson College for a 4:00 p.m. kickoff while Daniel Webster travels to Dudley, Mass. for a 4:00 p.m. tilt against Nichols College.
Lesley wasted little time peppering the Daniel Webster defense and starting goalkeeper junior Cooper Hall (Heber City, Utah) with six shots and forcing five corner kicks in the opening 21 minutes. However, the Eagles tightened up their defense and gave their offense a chance.
Midway through the half, Daniel Webster senior defender Michael Ottman (Kennebunkport, Maine) and first year midfielder Kevin Herrera (Metapan, El Salvador) looked to put the Eagles on the board first. The pair fired two shots against Lynx goalkeeper, junior James Webb (San Francisco, Calif.) within 10 minutes of each other that escaped wide of the net but Lesley hung on and went into the half with the match still tied a 0-0.
When the teams returned to the pitch at the beginning of the second half, it remained a tight, heated contest. Both teams had an opportunity to end the game in the last minute of play. At the 89:10 mark, the Lynx were awarded a corner kick, to junior midfielder Harrison Sidell (Newhall, Calif.), but were unable to capitalize on the moment. Seconds later, the Eagles' Ottman let a shot sail high over Webb's head to send the game into overtime.
It soon became a battle between the goalkeepers. Two minutes into the overtime period Lesley forward Nuno Pereira (Sao Filipe, Fogo, Cape Verde) drilled a shot-on-goal but Hall came up with the save to keep the game scoreless. A minute later, Webb rejected a shot of the foot of Herrera but the defending champion Eagles were not going away quietly. In the 96th minute, senior midfielder Alex Carvajal (Medellin, Colombia) connected with Herrera for his first goal of the game as the Eagles open conference play at 1-0.
Webb took the loss dropping him to 1-4 on the season while Hall improves to 3-3.
Lesley out-shot Daniel Webster 17-9 including 6-3 in shots-on-goal. But the Eagles had came up solid in the net edging out the Lynx in saves, 6-2.