BENNINGTON, Vt. – Slippery conditions and physical play were at the forefront of a Southern Vermont College men's soccer 4-1 loss to Mitchell College on Saturday afternoon on Everett Field at SVC. With the loss, the Mountaineers fall to 1-2 in the New England Collegiate Conference (2-10 overall), while the Mariners move to 2-1 (4-5 overall) with the win.
Back-and-forth play was a constant for the day, as both teams struggled to find solid footing on the sloppy pitch which had been used just prior to the start for the SVC women's match. The Mariners were the first to get on the scoreboard when senior captain Howie Johnson (New London, Conn.) found sophomore Jason Kirby (Cresskill, N.J.) in the box for a solid look at goal. He was able to beat Mountaineer keeper Christopher Dunham (Valley Falls, N.Y.) in the 31st minute for the 1-0 advantage.
The Mariners lead increased in the second stanza when Kirby played a ball from the left side of the box across the goal frame, getting deflected in by a Mountaineer defenseman at the 49:09 mark. SVC wouldn't go down without a fight, at they continued to work the ball and create chances in the offensive end of the field.
Mountaineer junior Pierre Massena (West Milford, N.J.) recorded his third goal of the season when he found the back of the net after being played to by sophomore Erik Argueta (Pico Rivera, Calif.) in the 51st.
Mitchell's Zachary Simmons (Coventry, Conn.) took the lead back to two goals in the 67th minute when he got on the end of a Frank Williams (Westerly, R.I.) pass and took a rip on goal. Williams then added the final notch at the 83:07 mark for the 4-1 victory.
Dunham finished with nine saves on the day, while Mariner goalkeeper Ramazan Sinani (Waterbury, Conn.) turned away three Mountaineer shots. Mitchell outshot SVC 22-9 on the afternoon.
SVC looks to its Wednesday trip to Becker for a 4 p.m. NECC matchup. Mitchell next hosts Wheelock for a 3:30 match on Wednesday.