MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College men's soccer team defeated the visiting Lions of Eastern Nazarene, 1-0 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at the Walter M. Katz Field. With the win, the Colonels improve to 4-2-1 overall and 2-0 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Lions fell to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in the CCC.
The Colonels and Lions battled each other to a scoreless first half. The teams were close in shots with Curry holding a slight advantage at 10-9. Four of the Colonels shots landed on net while six of the Lions did. Each goalkeeper played solid between the pipes to keep the game at 0-0. Curry's senior goaltender Nick Barber (Pittsfield, Mass.) made six saves and Eastern Nazarene's junior goaltender Jake Johnson (Mount Bethel, Pa.) made four.
The Colonels controlled the final frame, outshooting the Lions 18-3. Johnson however played outstanding turning away 11 shots on net to help keep his team alive and head into overtime. In regulation, Curry finished with 28 shots, 10 corner kicks and 13 fouls. Eastern Nazarene finished with 12 shots, four corner kicks and 11 fouls.
It looked as though the squads would be heading into a second overtime but with six seconds showing on the clock, the Colonels found the back of the net for the win. Curry had seven chances to score in just 9:54 minutes but just two of those shots were on net. Johnson came up with a big diving save in the opening minute of OT but he couldn't make the game-winning stop at the end. Sophomore forward Tim Stein (Smithfield, R.I.) dribbled the ball past a Lion defender and saw sophomore forward Matt Cotnoir (Longmeadow, Mass.) wide open inside the corner of the box. Stein sent a quick pass to Cotnoir who one-timed the ball low into the right side of the net past Johnson.
Curry ended with 35 shots, 19 on net, 14 fouls and 11 corner kicks. Eastern Nazarene ended with 13 shots, seven on net, 12 fouls and four corners.
Barber made seven saves in net for the Colonels in for the win. Johnson made an impressive 18 stops for the Lions in net in the loss.
The Colonels are next in action when they host Colby-Sawyer on Sunday, September 22 for a 1:00 p.m. match. Eastern Nazarene will host Becker College on Wednesday, September 25 for a 6:00 pm game.
