'NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's soccer team had its
16-game home winning streak snapped Saturday afternoon, as
undefeated Keene State posted a 2-1 non-conference victory at Keefe
Field. The Lyons last lost at home on September 27, 2003 against
MIT. Keene, ranked second in New England and tied for 14th
nationally, moved to 4-0, while Wheaton, which is ranked fifth in
New England, fell to 1-2.
"It was a great victory against a very good team," said KSC
Coach Ron Butcher, now two wins shy of the coveted 500-win
milestone. "Our defense, especially Gabe Bergeron and Mike
Lewis, really came of age and Cal Mintz came up with some big
saves. This win should help us down the road."
Wheaton controlled play early on but was unable to cash in on
five promising scoring opportunities, one of which included a
disallowed goal following an offsides call. During a two-minute
span, sophomore Trevor Cote (Portsmouth, RI/Providence Country Day)
sent a header over the net before being robbed by Keene State
sophomore keeper Cal Mintz (Westport, CT/Staples), who made a
fingertip save of Cote's shot.
Shortly after Cote's chances, Keene State converted on an
odd-man rush when junior Eric Scott (West Springfield, MA/West
Springfield) sent a shot past diving junior goalie Matt Pachniuk
(Newtown, CT/Newtown) into the lower right corner. Freshman Mike
Cooley (Northborough, MA/Algonquin) assisted on the tally, which
came at 29:13.
Midway through the second half, Wheaton knotted the score at
one. After junior Cameron Habib (Norfolk, MA/Bridgton Academy)
played the ball forward through the air to sophomore Dan Chong
(Miami, FL/Coral Reef), freshman Mathurin Coulibaly (Ivory Coast,
Africa/Saint George's School) took a pass and blasted home his
first collegiate goal at 67:41.
At 81:11, Keene State retook the lead when sophomore Ralph Rocco
(Groton, MA/Groton-Dunstable) netted a left-footed shot for his
first tally of the season. Pachniuk made a big save in the 84th
minute, sliding to stop a breakaway attempt, and Keene State had a
goal disallowed in the 87th minute before Wheaton finished with a
flurry. A trio of Lyons had scoring opportunities in the final
three minutes, but none of their shots found the back of the net.
Wheaton hits the road Tuesday against Western New England
College at 4:00 p.m. KSC is at Mass College of Liberal Arts on
Wednesday (4 p.m.)
(Courtesy Wheaton Sports Information)
