Men’s Soccer Kicks Off 2012 with 2-1 Victory at Lesley

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's soccer team opened the 2012 campaign with a 2-1 win over Lesley at Buckingham Browne & Nichols school. The Lions rise to 1-0 on the season while the Lynx stumble to 0-1 to start the year.

This marks Eastern Nazarene's first season-opening victory since the 2003 season, a 4-0 decision at Mount Ida.

Pacifique Jabiro (Portland, Maine) nearly netted the visitors' first score of the match in the 20th minute, but his effort ricocheted off of the crossbar.

Eastern Nazarene grabbed a 1-0 edge in the 25th minute as Edgar Arceo (Minden, NV) tallied his first goal in a Lions uniform. Arceo buried a loose ball in the box, slotting it into the lower left corner of the cage.

The visiting team doubled its advantage in the 29th minute, increasing the margin to 2-0. Sophomore Luis Lopez (Alexandria, Va.) netted his first goal of the season as his shot attempt eluded the Lesley goalkeeper. Senior Josh Kaplan (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) picked up his first assist of the year on Lopez's marker.

The Lions carried the 2-0 lead into intermission despite the Lynx holding a slight edge in shots, 8-6.

The hosts sliced into the ENC advantage in the 66th minute. Mackenzie Lukas found the back of the net off of a feed from Ari Sinanis.

In the waning minutes of the match, Lions' goalkeeper Jake Johnson (Mount Bethel, Pa.) came up with a pair of clutch saves to preserve the win. Johnson made a diving stop on a strike by Sinanis before denying a breakaway. The sophomore netminder finished with five saves on the night.

Lopez paced Eastern Nazarene with four shots in the contest. Lesley owned a 23-11 margin in shots in the game after outshooting the visitors 15-5 in the second half.

The Lions return to the pitch September 1 for a non-conference road game at Johnson and Wales.