Men’s Soccer Edged 2-1 at Fitchburg State

FITCHBURG, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's soccer team dropped a midweek matchup at Fitchburg State 2-1 Wednesday afternoon.

The Lions fall to 0-6-0 on the year with the setback while the Falcons improve to 4-1-0 overall.

The hosts jumped out to an early 1-0 edge with a quick strike. Clayton Mendes-Rodrigues fired a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the cage in the second minute to collect his first goal of the season.

The visitors bounced right back and leveled the match at 1-1 in the third minute. In his first game of the year, Jose Ruiz (Jerez de la Frontera, Spain) buried his first goal of the season. Sunil Lepcha (Charlotte, N.C.) sent a centering pass into the box and Ruiz arrived to the ball just ahead of the Fitchburg State goalkeeper to poke it into the back of the net.

Eastern Nazarene held an 8-5 advantage in first-half shots while Fitchburg State owned a 4-2 edge in corner kicks.

The Falcons reclaimed a one-goal advantage with a late score, 2-1. John Javaloyes netted the go-ahead goal in the 89th minute for his first tally of the season.

Eastern Nazarene posted 10 shots on the day while Fitchburg State finished with 12 attempts.

Florian Resch (St. Stefan, Austria) registered a pair of saves in his fifth start of the season in net.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene begins conference play September 22 on the road at Mitchell.