NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College men's soccer team bounced back from a draw over the weekend, defeating visiting Trinity 3-2 on Wednesday afternoon from Freeman Field. With the win, Conn moves to 5-1-3 on the year and 2-1-3 in conference play, while Trinity falls to 2-6 overall and 0-5 in NESCAC play.
Conn started fast, opening the scoring just under 11 minutes into the contest. Marco Perugini (Medway, Mass.) found Matt Scoffone (Thornton, Pa.) who used a nice finish to put the Camels up 1-0 at 10:53. Just two and a half minutes later, Conn doubled the lead. Alessandro Horvath-Diano () played a ball into the path of Elliot Spatz (Bellevue, Wash.) who finished to make it 2-0 at 13:34.
Late in the half, the Camels looked to push the lead to three, but Jake Creus (Madrid, Spain) was stopped by Matt Birnhak at 38:20 before Gavin Mpiana (Cape Town, South Africa) hit the crossbar 14 seconds later. Trinity used the good fortune to cut into the deficit, as just a minute later, Kieran McCabe found the back of the net to make it 2-1 heading into the break.
The chippiness picked up, as the Bantams' Owen McDermott was given his marching orders after being assessed a red card just 23 seconds into the second half, as Trinity went down to 10 men. Seven minutes after the sending off, Conn took advantage of the extra player. Rye Jaran (Downingtown, Pa.) played a corner into the box, connecting with the head of Dylan Hoke (Westport, Conn.) who headed home to make it 3-1 at 53:09.
Trinity did not go away quietly, as just over 13 minutes later, the Bantams once again made it a one goal game on a marker from Chris Connelly at 66:40. Conn looked for an insurance marker over the final 23 minutes, but were unable to, ultimately holding on for the 3-2 win.
Conn outshot Trinity 22-5 overall, including 8-4 on shots on target, while holding a 5-2 advantage on corner kicks.
Silvester got the start in goal, recording three saves. Three Camels found the back of the net, as Hoke, Scoffone, and Spatz all scored, while Horvath-Diano, Jaran, and Perugini all added one assist.
Birnhak recorded five saves in goal for Trinity, while Connelly and McCabe each scored for the Bantams.
Conn returns to action after a week and a half break, taking on Hamilton College in a NESCAC contest on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 2:00 p.m. on Freeman Field.
