Sept. 18, 2010

Box Score

Assumption College overcame a 1-0 deficit with four second half goals en route to a 4-2 victory over UMass Lowell Saturday in a Northeast-10 Conference men’s soccer match in Worcester.

The loss was the second straight for the River Hawks, who slipped to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the NE-10 entering Wednesday’s clash at No. 4 Southern New Hampshire (7:00). Assumption improved to 3-2-0 overall and 2-2-0 in the Conference.

UMass Lowell jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute on a counter attack when junior M Matheus Candido (Lowell, Mass.) sent a through-ball to sophomore M Ryan McLeod (Haverhill, Mass.) who roped a shot past senior GK Brandan Sullivan from 20 yards out.

The Greyhounds attacked immediately in the second half and leveled just 54 seconds into the second half when senior F Steve Blaisdell capitalized on a defensive error off a long throw-in in the UMass Lowell box.

The River Hawks lost the lead just four minutes later when freshman M Michael Agbortoko finished a counter attack with help from junior M Justin Pugliese. Freshman M Jose Paulo gave Assumption a 3-1 cushion in the 74th minute and Blaisdell completed his double in the 85th.

“Assumption deserves a lot of credit,” said UML Head Coach Bryan Scales. “They made it really hard for us. They applied a lot of pressure and it was difficult to string a lot of passes together. We were always under pressure.”

McLeod also had a hand in the second goal in the 86th when he was felled in the box by an Assumption defender. Senior F Stephen Potcner (Wilmington, Mass.) stepped up to slot home the penalty kick.

The Greyhounds outshot the River Hawks 20-16 and 13-7 on target. Freshman GK Chris Maierle (Wantagh, N.Y.) had nine saves while Sullivan stopped five shots for Assumption.