NORTON, Mass. – Sophomore forward Paco Polo (Madrid, Spain) broke a 2-2 tie with a goal in the 73rd minute to give the number two seed Wheaton College (Mass.) men's soccer team the lead for good in a 4-2 victory over visiting third-seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology this afternoon in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Championship Tournament Semifinals at Keefe Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons will host the NEWMAC Championship on Sunday, November 8 on Keefe Field at 1:00 p.m., taking on number four seed United States Coast Guard Academy, who advanced on penalty kicks against top-seeded Babson College, after the teams were tied at 1-1 following two overtime periods.
Wheaton is unbeaten in its last six games and eight of its last nine and improves to 10-2-6 on the season, while the Engineers drop to 9-6-4.
The Lyons owned a 31-26 shot advantage as well as a 10-5 advantage in corner kicks for the game.
In what's become a trend for Wheaton, in four non-shutout wins, the Lyons trailed at the intermission, but scored three unanswered markers in the second half.
Seniors Ben Kane (Pembroke, Mass.), Declan Rhatigan (Holderness, N.H.) and Avery Dinham (Coral Springs, Fla.) all added goals for Wheaton. Senior goalie Nick Phinney (Gorham, Maine) matched his career high with 10 saves.
Junior forward Jonah Gurion (Rye, N.Y.) and first year forward Eli Mick (Overland Park, Kan.) each scored for MIT. First year keeper Nicolas Santos-Shin (New York, N.Y.) stopped 12 shots for the visitors.
With the game tied at 2-2, the Lyons were able to salvage a set piece opportunity off a corner kick to take a 3-2 edge. Kane sent a cross to the right side of the box to senior midfielder Caleb Cassetta-Waxman (Denver, Colo.), who lofted a cross to the far left post for Polo. The sophomore crashed the goal mouth with a header that found the back of the net for his eighth goal of the season and a lead the home team would not relinquish in the 73rd minute of play.
Dinham added an insurance goal for Wheaton, taking the ball into the top left corner of the box, before unleashing a left-footed strike that found the far upper right corner of the net with 6:25 left in the game for his fourth goal of the season.
The Engineers took advantage of the rain-soaked pitch to put the Lyons on their heels early with a goal just 2:35 into the match. Senior midfielder Dilin Meloni (Needham, Mass.) threaded a cross to Gurion at the top right side of the box, before he fired a shot that slipped through the fingertips of the Lyon keeper for his fourth goal of the season.
Wheaton was quick to answer with the equalizer coming less than seven minutes later. Rhatigan put a shot on goal, but Santos-Shin came up with the stop before Kane put the rebound into the back of the net from the left side of the goal mouth for his third marker to pull the Lyons even at 1-1.
MIT scored again with 9:07 to play in the opening half to take its final lead of the afternoon. Senior forward Woods Windham (Rye, N.Y.) flicked a free kick from outside the box on the right side and into the mix, where junior midfielder Shikhar Motupally (Avon, Conn.) played the ball to Mick for the scoring strike and a 2-1 edge.
The Lyons knotted the match again in the 58th minute on a penalty kick. Rhatigan was taken down in the box and was given the opportunity to convert the free try. The Engineers' keeper guessed right, but Rhatigan calmly placed his right-footed tally into the upper left corner for his second marker of the year and a 2-2 tie.
