New Haven, Conn. – The Albertus Magnus College men's soccer team dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker in overtime to visiting Eastern Connecticut State on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action at Celentano Field. With the setback, the Falcons move to 4-1 overall, while Warriors won their sixth straight contest to improve to 6-0 on the season.
With the score tied at one less than two minutes into overtime, Albertus was whistled for a foul 25 yards outside of the box. Eastern quickly collected the ball and played a quick lateral pass to sophomore forward Xavier Doran who found a cutting and wide open Tyler Jones. Jones made a nice move and beat Falcons sophomore goalkeeper Griffin Volta (Orange, Conn.) for the game-winning strike. The shot beat Volta past his left hand and was the second marker of the day for Jones.
Albertus Magnus struck first, as junior forward Alexis Garcia-Romero (West Haven, Conn.) netted his first goal of the season in the 16th minute. Senior midfielder Jesse Plona (Trumbull, Conn.) won a 50-50 ball deep in the right-hand corner of the Eastern zone and flicked a pass that Garcia-Romero chipped over the outstretched hands of Warriors freshman goalkeeper Ryan Murphy. The helper was Plona's first of the year.
For the remainder of the opening stanza, the Warriors and Falcons traded scoring chances with neither team able to break through.
Just over two minutes into the second half, Jones knotted the game at one for the visitors with a strike from just inside the box. Junior back Gavin Neuendorf played a cross into the box that Jones received with his chest and controlled to his right foot. Jones made a nice deke to create free space and fired a blast that beat Volta to his left.
In net, Volta tied his season-high with six saves in a losing effort for the Falcons. On the opposite end, Murphy only faced one shot for the Warriors to earn his sixth triumph of the autumn.
Eastern held a 21-5 advantage in shots and took seven corners compared to zero for the hosts. There were no cards handed out during the contest and 22 fouls were called.
All five of the Falcons tilts this fall have been decided by one goal and two have gone to overtime.
The Falcons return to action on Saturday, September 19 with a road GNAC contest against Emmanuel.
