Lasell Men’s Soccer comeback falls short against USJ

NEWTON, Mass. – The Lasell College men's soccer team lost a tough matchup with the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) Blue Jays Wednesday afternoon, 3-2, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at Taylor Field.

Freshman Jake Oullette (East Granby, Conn.) did everything in his power to make sure the Lasers wouldn't go quietly, and scored two late goals to energize the Lasers but ultimately it wasn't enough.

After starting slow, the Lasers were able to pick up the pace in the second half, managing five total shots. They made great adjustments at halftime, and create a lot more pressure on the Blue Jays defense.

Junior keeper Jackson Burhans (Berlin, N.Y.) helped make sure the Lasers could keep it close, stopping 4-of-7 shots on goal, including one of two penalty kicks.

Freshman Daniel Castro (Willimantic, Conn.) netted his seventh goal of the season to open the scoring for the Blue Jays. Burhans came out too far to try and stop the ball, and Castro was able to walk it in to the empty net.

After a foul call in the 15th minute, the Blue Jays earned a penalty kick and had a chance to take a commanding 2-0 lead. Sophomore Gaetano LaBella (Wethersfield, Conn.) chose the low left corner as his target, but Burhans made a diving save.

However, that 2-0 lead would still be achieved, as freshman DeAnte Thompson (Bloomfield, Conn.) stepped up to take another penalty kick, and this one would sneak past Burhans and find the back of the net. 

Thompson added to the Blue Jays lead early in the second half, and took a breakaway chance all the way, to put them up 3-0.

As time started to tick down, Oullette started to heat up. He netted his first goal with 23 minutes remaining, off of a beautiful assist by sophomore Simon Nigro (Simsbury, Conn.) and his second came about three minutes later. 

The Lasers fall to 2-6-2 overall and 1-5-2 in the GNAC and will return to action at home on Saturday at 12:00 P.M. against the Warriors of Eastern Connecticut State University. The Blue Jays rise to 6-2-1 overall and 3-2-1 in conference play and will return home on Saturday for a matchup with Saint Joe's (Maine).

(Story by Roman Tomashoff)

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