LYNDONVILLE, Vt. – On the first day of the 2014 season and the Lyndon State Kick-off Tournament, the Southern Vermont College men's soccer team suffered a tight 1-0 loss to the hosting Hornets on Varsity Athletic Field Saturday afternoon.
Lyndon starts the 2014 season 1-0 while the Mountaineers are 0-1 after the non-conference defeat that pitted the two programs against each other for the first time since 1994.
Among the starting 11 for SVC head coach Joe Baia was Bennington College senior Chernoh Jalloh (Freetown, Sierra Leone). His participation marked the first ever for a BC student in an NCAA sanctioned event, as permitted by the new athletics consortium between Southern Vermont and Bennington that was announced earlier this week.
The hard-fought contest saw both teams stressing defense as there was only a total of nine shots on goal between the two sides throughout the 90-minute match. Neither side was able to capitalize on chances gained in the first half as the game went into the break at a 0-0 stalemate.
Finally, in the 66th minute, Lyndon was able to get on the scoreboard with what proved to be the game-winning goal. Hornet freshman Liam Kelleher (Manchester, Vermont) scored on a rebound that resulted from a shot off the foot of senior Eric Nelson (Guildhall, Vermont); Nelson was credited with his first assist of the 2014 season.
That would be enough of a cushion for Lyndon freshman goalkeeper Matt LaClair (Beekmantown, New York) to preserve the shutout after entering the game in the second half to relieve senior keeper Jason Marks (Newtown, Connecticut). Marks made one save while starting the year 1-0 in net. SVC freshman goalie Cody Gross (Fair Lawn, New Jersey) turned away seven Hornet shots in his first collegiate action (0-1).
Lyndon was able to surrender only one corner kick to the Mountaineers while the Hornets took five of their own. Kelleher led all players with three shots on the day, two being on frame including the match's decider.
Southern Vermont concludes its stay in Lyndonville on Sunday with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff against Vermont Technical College while LSC tries to win its tournament with a 12 p.m. start against the University of Maine-Presque Isle.