North Adams, MA – The Sage Colleges' men's soccer team travelled to MCLA for a non-conference match on Tuesday afternoon in the team's 2013 regular-season finale.
MCLA freshman Kiefer Orzulak scored the lone goal in the 60th minute to lift the Trailblazers to a 1-0 non conference victory over the Sage Gators this afternoon at chilly Shewcraft Field. With the win, the Trailblazers improve to 5-8-1 heading into the regular season finale with Mass. Maritime this weekend. Sage suffers just their third defeat and are now 10-3-4 overall.
After a scoreless first half in which the visitors outshot MCLA 8-2, the Trailblazers took charge in the second half. Orzulak beat Gator keeper Tim Madden (Watertown, NY/Watertown) when a cross from Romeo Grey found him in front of the net. His shot beat Madden to the lower left corner and MCLA led 1-0.
The hosts had other opportunities to stretch the lead, however many of their late attempts sailed wide of the net. The Gators would begin pressuring the MCLA defense over the final ten minutes, but Shawn Willis stopped 8 shots to secure the shutout victory. Willis improves his mark to 2-0 on the season while Madden drops to 9-4-2.
Sage outshot MCLA 16-11 on the afternoon, however the Trailblazers held a slim 9-8 edge in the decisive period. Each team had three corner kicks.
Sage returns to action on November 6 hosting the semifinals of the 2013 Skyline Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. Sage earned the No. 1 seed and a bye and will host the winner of a quarterfinal match. Sage's semifinal match will start at 2 p.m. on Wednesday and will take place at Albany College of Pharmacy's Athletic Complex.