Box Score Bitchell, Devlin Lead Camels Past Corsairs
NEW LONDON, Conn.—Junior Matthew Bitchell (Byfield, Mass.) had a goal and an assist to help lead the the Connecticut College men's soccer game to a 4-2 victory against UMass Dartmouth on Freeman Field at Tempel Green Sunday.
Pat Devlin (Washington, Crossing, Pa.) scored twice from his central midfield post while Ibrahim Mutala (Accra, Ghana) registered two assists for the Camels.
Christian Schmidt (Zionsville, Ind.) tacked on a second half score for the winning side while Austin DaCunha (Brookfield, Conn.) finished with four saves in goal for the Camels.
Connecticut College improves its record to 2-0 in the early season while the Corsairs fall to 1-2.
Sophomore Matt Vidal (New Beford, Mass.) sparked the visitors from UMass-Dartmouth in their second half rally with a pair of scores. Gustavo Dos Santos (Juiz de Fora, Brazil) had an assist.
Sophomore Andrew Deane (Woburn, Mass.) made eight saves in the opening half. Luis Carranza (New Bedford, Mass.) made two saves in the second stanza.
The Camels opened the scoring in the fourth minute of action. Junior Colin Patch (Providence, R.I.) delivered a long pass from midfield down the seam to Mutala in an all-out sprint. Mutala delivered a low cross to Bitchell, who found the back of the net from 10 yards out.
Bitchell narrowly missed out another score with 28 minutes remaining but Deane was able to make a one handed save to deflect his blast from point blank range out of play.
But in the 31st minute, the Camels doubled their advantage. Bitchell was the facilitator as he set up Devlin with some open netting and the sophomore tucked one inside the left post for the goal to make it a 2-0 game at the break.
But in the second half, the Corsairs battled back. Vidal buried a 20 yard blast in the 58th minute of action to halve the Camel advantage.
The Camels responded though, when Mutala assisted Devlin for his second score of the day in the 59th minute of play.
But the Corsairs would not go away and when Dos Santos set up Vidal for his second score with 30:30 remaining, it was a 3-2 contest.
But the Camels settled down and scored an important insurance goal in the 63rd minute of the game.
Kevin O'Brien (Wellesley, Mass.) delivered a pass in the corner to Charlie Overton (Far Hils, N.J.), who found Schmidt open for a one-timer that made it a 4-2 game.
The visitors could not get any closer and the Camels were able to hold on for the 4-2 win.
Connecticut College held a 28-to-7 advantage on the shot chart and owned an 8-to-2 edge in corner kicks.
