Worcester, MA- After an exciting weekend that saw the first conference win for the Worcester State Men's Soccer team (2-6-1, 1-1-1) they are back in action tonight as they take a trip west to meet up with Springfield College in an out of conference regional battle. Last season the game went to a 1-1 draw and this season Worcester hopes to score their way into a solid victory.

Final

Worcester State: 1

Springfield: 3

How it Happened:

The Lancers hit the road to meet Springfield at their home turf  where the Pride was first to control possession and managed to get a corner in the first two minutes. Worcester was able to defend and dribble the ball to the opposing territory where a shot by sophomore Arthur Tome (Milford, MA) was saved by Noah Pote in net for Springfield. Going back the other way, Springfield received three more corners but were unable to get past first year Sergio Torrado (Arroyomolinos, ES) who was in net for Worcester. Back and forth play ensued on the pitch and at the 35:42 minute mark Springfield was able to get on the scoreboard first. A pass by Cole Sampson was able to find the foot of Erving Henderson who buried it in the back of the Lancers net. A goalie change for Worcester happened after and first year PJ Schmidt (Westwood, NJ) took the net for Torrado. Worcester tried to apply the pressure to get even with a shot from junior Wilber Garcia (Bilboa, ES) but Springfield's Pote was able to turn it aside. At the 39:32 minute mark Springfield's Jared Kelly passed the ball to Henderson who buried it once again. Henderson of Springfield was off to his best start of the semester with two goals in about four minutes. 

For the second half sophomore Tobias Schneider (Hudson, WI) of Worcester started in goal. In the first five minutes of the second half, the new Worcester goalie was able to turn away two shots from Connor Policarpio, and one from Parker Thorton. Worcester was able to set up plays for shots by juniors Taylor Gavaletz (Dudley, MA) and Brady Iovanni (Lunenburg, MA) but were turned aside. The Worcester goalie quickly saw more action from Springfield's shooter's Policarpio, Henderson and Thornton. With the consistent pressure Cooper Harmon was able to score the third of the game and put Springfield up 3-0. Worcester was able to bring the ball out of their end, dribble the ball into the Springfield box and was able to get a foul by Springfield which ended up in a penalty kick. Senior Mal Hawkins (View Park, CA) buried the penalty kick to put Worcester on the board, but the clock was too far gone for the epic comeback needed as Worcester would fall to the Pride. 

What's Next:

Worcester State (2-7-1, 1-1-1) will have just a few days rest before they return to action, remaining out west, this time to take on conference foe MCLA in a bid to get over .500 in their conference record. The game against MCLA on the 11th of October is at 6:00PM