Savonen pots game-winner at 83:26

HARTFORD, Conn. – The Wheaton College men's soccer team, ranked No. 14 overall in the D3soccer.com national poll and No. 17 in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) national rankings, fell to Trinity College, 4-3, on Tuesday evening in non-conference action.

Trinity sophomore forward Cody Savonen (Orleans, Mass./Nauset) buried the game-winning goal at the 83:26 mark when he cleaned up Oliver Murphy's (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) rebound for his team-leading sixth goal of the season. Murphy initiated the tally with a shot that deflected off a Wheaton defender and caromed off the post before Savonen put home the ricochet into the back of the net. Savonen also scored the Bantams' first marker of the contest at 22:01, while sophomore midfielder Tobias Gimand (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) and senior forward Timothy Shea (Somerset, Mass./Deerfield Academy) both tallied goals as well.

Wheaton senior forward Travis Blair (Hastings, N.Y./Hastings) guided the offense with a pair of goals coming at 4:59 and 65:49, respectively. Lyons' first-year forward Amara Sesay (Bronx, N.Y./Martin Luther King) leveled the score at 3-3 with an unassisted strike in the 78th minute before Savonen lifted the hosts to the victory. Senior midfielder/forward Scott Enman (Brooklyn, N.Y./Packer Collegiate Institute) and junior midfielder Noah Kossoff (New York, N.Y./Birch Wathen Lenox School) were credited with one assist apiece for the Blue and White.

Blair opened the scoring with a header off a cross from Enman just under five minutes into play into the matchup. Trinity tied the contest at one in the 23rd minute as Savonen fired a shot that deflected off a Wheaton defender and found the back of the net. The multi-goal game was the second of the season for Savonen.

The Bantams took their first lead of the day in the 37th minute as Gimand converted a pass from Shea for his third goal of the season. Gimand's tally closed out the scoring in the opening half as Trinity took a 2-1 advantage into halftime.

In the second stanza, Blair scored once again off a header this time knotting the game at 2-2. Kossoff sent a perfect cross into the box and Blair registered his team-leading ninth goal of the season. Over the final 16 minutes of action the two regional foes turned up the intensity and the scoring as three more goals were scored and a pair of yellow cards were given out.

In the 75th minute, Shea gave Trinity its second lead of the game as he scored his fourth goal of the year. Gimand fired a shot that was turned aside, but Shea ripped a shot through a wall of Wheaton defenders from point-blank range. Three minutes later, Sesay took a shot from 10 yards outside of the box that was deflected by a Bantam defender and found the back of the net.

Trinity first-year goalkeeper Mateo Zabala (Paterson, N.J./St. Benedict's) turned away four shots to earn his third victory of the season. On the opposite end, first-year David Sorkenn (River Edge, N.J./River Dell Regional) made six saves in a losing effort for the Lyons.

Wheaton held a 20-14 advantage in shots and the Bantams took the only two corner kicks in the game.

Wheaton (10-2-1, 3-0-0 NEWMAC) travels to MIT on Saturday for a conference clash at 1 p.m. Trinity (5-3-1) hosts Middlebury on Saturday at 2 p.m.

For the latest on Wheaton College Athletics, follow the Lyons via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.