CHARLES LIFTS MEN'S SOCCER TO WIN WITH 21 SECONDS REMAINING
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (September 20, 2006)- Chris
Charles (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored with 21 seconds left in
regulation to lift American International College to a 1-0 win over
Merrimack College in Northeast-10 men's soccer Wednesday afternoon
at AIC Park. The win snaps a two-game slide for the Yellow
Jackets as they improve to 5-2-0 overall and 3-2-0 in league play,
while the Warriors saw their three-game win streak snapped as they
are now 6-3-0 overall and 1-3-0 in NE-10 play.
The game-winning goal got started at midfield when Chris Carrozza (Methuen, Mass.) played a ball over to Gustavo Duarte (Leominster, Mass.). Seeing Charles up ahead, Duarte played the ball ahead on the ground. Charles outraced a Merrimack defender to get to the ball, then when Warrior keeper Jason Baker (Wells, Maine) overcommitted to Charles, he hit a soft shot into the bottom left hand corner of the goal for the game-winner.
Merrimack did get the ball down for one final opportunity, but a shot by Donnie Aylward (Groveland, Mass.) in the box went wide.
AIC had had two other chances to get on the board in the waning moments of the game. With eight minutes remaining, Duarte headed a ball toward what appeared an open Merrimack goal, but a Warrior defender knocked it away. Two minutes later, following a Merrimack foul, Marek Przybylek (Olsztyn, Poland) bent a free kick around the wall into the top left hand corner of the goal, but Baker came up with the save.
Michael Murphy (Ithaca, N.Y.) made four saves en route to his first shutout of the season, while Baker also made four stops as the Yellow Jackets outshot the Warriors 15-8, including an 11-6 second half advantage.
AIC returns to action Saturday when it travels
to UMass Lowell for a 3:00 contest. The next Yellow Jacket
home game is September 30 when AIC hosts Southern New Hampshire for
a 1:00 tilt at AIC Park.