Men’s Soccer Falls to Lesley University, 1-0 in Overtime Thriller

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College freshmen goalkeeper Christian Kostka (Oxford, Conn.) made 10 saves in the second half, but Ryan Richardson (Santa Barbara, Calif.) found the back of the net 3:17 into overtime to lift Lesley University to a thrilling, 1-0 overtime victory over the Blazers in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's soccer game at Leary Field.

With the loss, Elms moves to 6-6-2 on the season, 2-2-1 in conference play, while Lesley improves to 9-4-2 overall, and remains unblemished in league action at 6-0-0.

After a scoreless 90 minutes of regulation, the sides entered the first period of overtime. Elms' sophomore midfielder Joseph Coleman (Easthampton, Mass.) had the first scoring opportunity when a through ball came to him sprinting down the left side of the field, but Lesley's goalkeeper Nigel Leahy (New Paltz, N.Y.) cut down the angle just inside the 18-yard box and made a diving save to keep the game knotted at 0-0.

Lesley answered the scoring threat with an opportunity of its own when Jordan Santos (Middlebury, Conn.) sent a ball up the middle of the field to Richardson who found himself in a one-on-one situation with the Elms keeper behind the defense and scored the game-winner at the 93:17 mark.

Ari Sinanis (Coventry, Conn.) finished with three shots on goal for the Lynx, while freshman defender Connor O'Grady (Somers, Conn.) added three shots on goal for the Blazers to lead their respective teams.

Leahy finished with six saves to earn the shutout win as Lesley outshot Elms 22-11 in the game with 14 of the shots coming in the second half of action.

Elms returns to NECC action on Wednesday, Oct. 24 when it hosts Becker College at 3:30 p.m. at Leary Field.