PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A goal from sophomore midfielder Jackson Fox in the second half lifted Rhode Island College past UMass Dartmouth, 1-0 in Little East Conference men's soccer action on Wednesday evening. The Anchormen move to 9-2-1 overall and 5-1-0 in conference play, while the Corsairs are now 2-8-3 and 0-3-2 in the LEC.
Locked in a scoreless game that saw a number of opportunities on both sides, it was the homestanding Anchormen who found the back of the net first. In the 65th minute, Rhode Island College earned the corner kick and senior midfielder Anthony Recinos's shot sailed into the middle where it appeared to be stopped by Corsairs goalie
Ethan Donahue.
In the confusion in front, the ball came loose, and Fox found it, banking it off his right foot for a high shot up and into the net. The 75th minute saw a golden opportunity for the Corsairs as senior midfielder and captain
Braeden LeClair one-touched the ball, but it was blocked in front to thwart the potential equalizer.
The Corsairs saw LeClair drive home another shot in the 84th minute, but it was saved by RIC keeper Wesley Perrotto. Fifth year captain and forward
Joey Paiva followed that up less than a minute later, driving home a low centered shot that was once again saved by Perrotto to hold off the Corsairs offense.
It was a scoreless first half of action that saw the homestanding Anchormen nearly strike first in the sixth minute as consecutive shots from rookie midfielder Nathan Capelo and sophomore middie Donovan Battle were both blocked by the Corsair defense.
The Corsairs countered as LeClair sent a shot in minutes later, which sailed high and out. In the 15th minute, UMassD had another solid chance as sophomore midfielder
Mario Rodriguez banked a shot that went just left of the goal.
RIC then saw junior forward Sekou Kamara each drive in a shot that was stopped by Donahue around the 19th minute. The home team continued to put forth a number of shots, but a solid effort by the Corsairs defense saw a number of blocked shots to keep things scoreless heading into the second half of action.
Perrotto earned the victory in goal for the Anchormen, recording three saves on the night. Donahue made a number of outstanding stops, shouldering the loss with seven saves.
UMass Dartmouth returns to action on Saturday, traveling to Vermont for an 11am LEC showdown against the Spartans of VTSU Castleton.
