NEW LONDON, Conn. – Anish Reid (Middletown, Conn.) scored with 4:31 remaining as the Connecticut College men's soccer team defeated visiting Trinity College 1-0 on Tuesday night from Silfen Field.
It was a cagey affair, with Trinity recording the first shot of the contest at 8:10 with Casey Shea (Haworth, N.J.) coming up with the early save. Conn answered five minutes later with their first attempt of the evening, but Dylan Hoke's (Westport, Conn.) header was stopped by Jake Davis.
Both teams struggled to put shots on goal for the rest of the half, with the lone remaining effort coming from the Bantams' Dillon Reilly that was stopped by Shea. The Camels had a late look, as Marco Perugini (Medway, Mass.) let a volley fly from 30-yards out, but his effort went wide, just before the halftime buzzer, as the game was scoreless at the break.
Conn opened the second half on the front foot, as both Gavin Mpiana (Cape Town, South Africa) and Max Haberman (San Diego, Calif.) forced saves from Davis in the opening five minutes. Trinity answered with the next three shots on target, but again Shea was up to the task.
Davis and Shea answered each other in goal, with a save apiece in the 69th minute, before the Bantams thought they found the go-ahead tally. Trinity played a long throw-in into the box with the ball falling on the head of Owen Myers, who redirected the ball towards the cage. Shea dove up and palmed the ball back off the line to keep the game deadlocked with 12 minutes to play.
Max Weiss (Weston, Conn.) forced a save from Davis in the 83rd minute, before Conn finally broke through on Reid's first career marker. Weiss controlled the ball on the near sideline, before a soft pass into the path of Mpiana, who carried it into the box. Mpiana got to the byline, sending a pass across the face of the goal, where Reid was waiting to tap it home, and give the Camels the 1-0 lead.
Trinity did not go away quietly, as just a minute later, Shea answered the call one last time, turning away a chance from Sebastian Martinez-Moule. Conn closed out the dying seconds to earn the hard-fought 1-0 win.
Trinity outshot Conn 14-12, including 8-6 on shots on target, while holding a 6-1 advantage on corner kicks.
Shea was fantastic in net, picking up the victory while making eight saves. Reid tallied the lone goal of the contest, while Mpiana chipped in with an assist.
Davis got the start in net for Trinity, recording five saves.
Conn (6-2-1, 4-2-1 NESCAC) returns to action on Saturday afternoon as the Camels host Bates at 2:00 p.m. on Freeman Field.
