Escobar Leads MCLA Past Men's Soccer, 2-1

MCLA 2, Worcester State 1

Box Score

Worcester, MA --- Senior Raul Escobar (Ashley Falls, MA) notched a pair of goals to help vault MCLA to a 2-1 victory over Worcester State on Saturday evening at Coughlin Stadium. The Trailblazers improve to 3-4-1 with the win while the Lancers slip to 4-3-2.

Escobar scored the first goal of the game just five minutes into the contest. WSC keeper Daniel Hansen (Worcester, MA) slid to make the stop, but Escobar's attempt went past him. Senior Gianfranco Bravo (Great Barrington, MA) recorded his first assist of the season on the marker.

Freshman Andrew Babineau (Webster, MA) knotted the game up 1-1 when he took a feed from classmate David Gufstafson (Webster, MA) in the 49th minute.

The match remained tied for the next 33 minutes of play until Escobar found the net in the 82nd minute on a cross from sophomore Luke Davis (Bedford, MA).

Worcester State senior Brian Andrade (Hudson, MA) had a perfect opportunity to send the game into overtime just one minute later, but MCLA netminder Adam Tarsa (Adams, MA) made a great rejection, to keep the ball out of the net.

Both teams were even in shots in the first half (7-7), but the Lancers led in the second stanza, 9-4. The Trailblazers held a slight 3-1 edge in corners. There were also six yellow cards and a red card in the contest. 

Hansen finished the game with four saves while Tarsa made five grabs between the pipes.

Both teams will host non-conference matches at 4 PM on Wednesday. Worcester will entertain Plymouth State while MCLA will take-on Green Mountain College.