Men’s Soccer Loses Heartbreaker

COURTESY PHOTO / ALEX CROSSLEY

Saturday afternoon in a bout against a fellow Little East Conference competitor, the Plymouth State Panthers took on the Anchormen of Rhode Island College. In a game that was neck and neck throughout its entirety, the Anchor– men came out on top winning by a score of merely 1-0. The Panthers played an excellent game as it was the final home game of the season and the final home game for seniors Connor Noe (Rochester, NH), Danny Marsh (Farmington, Conn.), Adam Edmunds (Wilton, NH), Graham Hughes (Billerica, Mass.), Petro Masumbuko (Manchester, NH), Senad Mehmedovic (Concord, NH), Alex Herbert (Lexington, Mass), and Ted Karlstrand (Halmstad, Sweeden).

What started out as a tough physical match ended in a bit of controversy, as over 30 fouls were committed, including three RIC yellow cards and two for the home team. The Panthers held the Anchormen scoreless until the 35th minute when Sophomore Komla Dogbey scored to give Rhode Island College the lead they needed to put the Panthers away. Dogbey split the defenders on the right side, just inside Plymouth’s 18 yard box, and tucked the ball into the left side netting; a slow roller that was just beyond the reach of PSU keeper Felix Lindeberg. Lindeberg (Stockholm, Sweeden) made eight saves on the day while the keeper for the anchormen, Chris Moura, made five saves.

Lindeberg and his back line played some of the best defensive soccer seen all year, holding this powerhouse offense to a mere goal. Shots off the foot of Dogbey in the 80th and 85th minute would have gotten past most goalies, but Lindeberg showed off his skill and kept his team within reach of sending the game into extra time. Plymouth had a set piece opportunity from about 40 yards out with under 10 seconds left to tie the game, but was nicely picked out of the air by RIC keeper Chris Moura. Moura then proceeded to take jabs at the Plymouth State team, and the controversy escalated when he began to taunt the PSU fans with a Panther forward in pain on the pitch.

With this loss the Panthers fell to 7-4-1 on the season and broke their five-game winning streak they had. They are now 3-1-1 in conference play as they look to play UMass Dartmouth this Saturday in a conference match. With a win over UMass Dartmouth, the Panthers will clinch a playoff spot. The Panthers are currently sitting at fourth place in the Little East Conference while the Anchormen are tied for second place with UMass Boston.