SPRINGFIELD, MA - The Bard College men's soccer team suffered a tough 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Golden Bears of Western New England University Tuesday afternoon.
The Raptors (3-3), who came from behind twice in the contest, tying the score up at 1-1 and 2-2, nearly found a third equalizer in the final minutes of the second half, but a stingy defensive effort from Western New England preserved the win.
The Golden Bears (6-1) opened the scoring early, finding the back of the net in just the fourth minute. Early pressure from Western New England directly led to the goal, as the hosts earned four straight corner kicks, the final of which set up the opening strike.
Logan Pingree (Middletown, CT) received the ball in the box, thanks to a beautiful heel flick, and chipped the shot past Bard keeper
Taylor Bond, beating him to the left side of goal.
Nick Shenberger evened things up in the 21st minute, off a gorgeous through-ball from
John Flynn.
Following an interception in the midfield, Flynn found a streaking Shenberger and calmly slotted the ball through three defenders to find the striker's feet. The senior captain raced down the field, beating the goalie with a little chip shot as he was hit hard by the rushing keeper.
The tie score would only last four minutes though, as Troy Remillard (Palmer, MA) made the Raptors pay for sloppy play in their own half of the field. After intercepting a Bard pass, Remillard dribbled forward before unleashing a shot from the edge of the penalty box to beat Bond into the top left corner.
The Raptors weren't done however, responding for a second time in the half off a tremendous long throw-in from
Brendan Byrne to
Lucas Bourgine.
Bourgine flicked the ball with the back of his head and beat the keeper into the upper left corner to send the game to halftime at 2-2.
The tie game would be short lived in the end though, as Western New England scored in the 50th minute thanks to Remillard's second of the day.
The goal was nearly identical to the one Bourgine scored, except this one came off a cross instead. Remillard jumped in the air and got his head on it to redirect the ball into the top left corner, giving Bond no chance to stop it.
In the final moments of the game, Bard hit the post and had a great shot saved by the Golden Bears' keeper, Sam Brewer (Westford, MA) as the comeback attempt was extinguished.
Shots on goal were close as Western New England managed five to Bard's four. The real difference in the end were corner kicks, as the Golden Bears attempted nine compared to two for the Raptors.
Bond and Brewer each managed two saves in net.
Up next for Bard, the beginning of Liberty League play. The Raptors will host RPI on September 23rd at 2 p.m. You can follow that game right here via Live Stats and Live Video.
