MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College men's soccer team suffered their first loss of the season to Commonwealth Coast Conference opponent Wentworth, 3-1, on Friday evening at the Walter M. Katz Field. The Colonels fell to 5-1 overall and evened out their CCC record at 1-1. The Leopards improved to 2-2-3 overall and 1-1 in the CCC.
Wentworth controlled the first 45 minutes of play. The Leopards had possession of the ball for what seemed like the majority of the half. Despite outshooting Curry 11-7 and have four corner kick opportunities to the Colonels zero, Wentworth was unable to capitalize and take an early game lead. Seven of their shots went wide or high of the net, but the Colonels' sophomore goaltender Dan Johnson (Easton, Conn.) was forced to make four tough stops. Curry struggled with their chances landing just two of their shots on net with junior goalkeeper Kevin Pepin (Fairhaven, Mass.) recording both saves.
The teams traded corner kicks to open the final frame but neither team could make something out of them. Curry's momentum seemed to have shifted as they edged Wentworth in shots 3-1 in the first ten minutes. The Leopards junior midfielder, Alberto Benhamu (Caracas, Venezuela) took a corner kick at the 53:15 minute mark. The Colonels defense struggled to clear the ball out of their defensive zone and just over two minutes later, Wentworth netted their first tally of the night as senior Adam Rhodes (Litchfield, Conn.) one-timed it past Johnson. Over the next 5:20 minutes, Curry took control and had five shots to Wentworth's one during the time span. At 59:46 the pressure the Colonels put on the Leopards defense and Rhodes paid off. Curry evened the score at one after senior Ryan Madden (Milton, Mass.) sent classmate Nick Gilman (Longmeadow, Mas.) a nice through pass. Gilman received the pass just outside the box and drilled the ball into the top right hand corner of the net. Pepin made a diving save but couldn't make the save. The teams battled over the next 13 minutes with both squads fighting to gain the lead. With 17 minutes remaining in the game, one of the Colonel's defenders committed a foul inside the 18-yard box. The foul resulted in a Leopard penalty-kick. Junior Sam Martins (Dartmouth, Mass.) was awarded the PK and scored the game-winner as he shot the ball low into the back of the net. Curry was unable to regain momentum and after going 10 minutes without a shot, Wentworth sealed the win after a third goal with just 7:28 left in regulation. Sophomore Alec Watkinson (Merrimack, N.H.) dribbled the ball all alone through the Colonel defense and was one-on-one against Johnson before placing the ball over the head of the sophomore netminder.
The Colonels will host Johnson & Wales in a non-conference game on Monday, September 22 in a 4:00 p.m. game start. The Leopards travel to Umass Boston on Wednesday, September 24 in a 3:30 p.m. game time.
