Men’s Soccer Ties, Misses Playoff Birth

Last Sat. proved to be a tough game for the Plymouth State Men’s soccer team, as they needed a win against Eastern Connecticut, but settled for a double OT draw in a game that was hard fought until the final whistle. Plymouth State finished 5^th in the conference, having an overall record of 5-10-2 overall and 3-2-2 in conference play.

The last four games of the season, in order, were against the toughest four teams PSU could have faced. Tufts and Middlebury, two out of conference games, were seeded first and fourth in the NESCAC conference and nationally ranked amongst other DIII schools around the country. In their own Little East Conference, PSU suffered a 2-0 loss to the top ranked UMass Boston Beacons. Needing a win last Saturday, the Panthers fell short of a win against the 4^th ranked Eastern Connecticut Warriors.

The game was scoreless through the first half before junior forward Alex Herbert (Lexington, Mass.) shot a screamer from just outside the 18 yard line that scraped the crossbar and found the back of the net. With just 11 minutes to go in the game, Eastern Connecticut junior forward Zane Lombardo (Portland, Conn) put in the goal that would keep Plymouth from playoff contention. With only four minutes of play since entering the game, Lombardo finished a play started by a beautiful ball off the head of freshman midfielder Adam Traxler (Newburyport, Mass.) that was directed towards the back post. Plymouth State had a couple of chances in overtime, but Eastern sophomore keeper Greg Walton (Brunswick, Maine) made a handful of beautiful saves to keep them out of reach.

Plymouth suffers four graduation losses in Aaron Smith (Loudon, N.H.), Christian Bua (Gilford, N.H.), Ryan Curtin (Waterford, N.Y.), and Felderson Thelusma (Somersworth, N.H.).