Regis Men’s Soccer Loses GNAC Opener

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – After a quiet first half, Albertus Magnus College pushed the play up the field in the second half on its way to a 3-0 victory over Regis College Saturday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's soccer match at Celetano Field.

The Falcons threatened to score three minutes after halftime when Regis keeper Freddie Beckmann (Franklin, Mass.) turned away a shot by Ben Pierce. In the 51^st minute, a shot by Federico Lavini-Ayalla (Weston, Fla.) was stopped by Falcon goalie David Lucero, and the home team immediately converted on a counterattack, as Pierce set up Yahya Kardad for the first goal of the match.

Just over four minutes later, Pierce would earn a goal of his own off an assist by Anthony Barreira to give the Falcons a 2-0 advantage. Albertus Magnus picked up its final tally in the 69^th minute as Erik Dahlgard sent a long pass to Kelvin Cortez, who blasted a shot into the net.

Albertus Magnus controlled the play early in the match, but none of its shots within the first 15 minutes were on target. The Falcons earned a corner kick opportunity in the 18^th minute, but EJ Gonzalez's shot off the corner sailed wide right.

The home team's lone shot on goal in the first half came in the 33^rd minute, as Denis Blandon sent a blast towards net that was corralled by Beckmann. Meanwhile, the Pride ended up with two shots on goal in the opening half, including one within the final two minutes of the period by Agu Silva-Olivera (Lunenburg, Mass.).

Albertus Magnus (3-1-1, 1-0 GNAC) finished with a 19-9 shot advantage, led by Pierce with four total shots. Of the Pride's nine shots, seven of them were on goal, but Lucero stopped all of them to notch the clean sheet. Beckmann finished with two saves before Ethan Donahue (Methuen, Mass.) took over for the final 14 minutes and was credited with one save.

Regis College (2-1, 0-1 GNAC) hosts Westfield State Wednesday, Sept. 14, starting at 4 p.m. at Regis Stadium.