Bittersweet weekend for Bears in MASCAC soccer tournament

11/12/2014

By Jonas Joseph

Comment Staff

BSU junior forward Connor Murtagh fights for the ball vs Fitchburg State.

What a bittersweet weekend for the BSU Men’s Soccer team. Friday’s decisive 4-1 win against MCLA saw the Bears gain full momentum heading into the final. Unfortunately for the Bears, one goal cost them the MASCAC Championship.

One should not look at the season as a disappointment, but rather as going in the right direction towards building a sound foundation of young players who will be able to compete for the championship constantly.

The Bears turned around a season that was going through some growing pains early on in the year. Although the Bears did not get the results that they wanted, they have to keep in mind that they’re a young team capable of great feats. Not to mention they have the Coach of the Year, Brendan Adams, at the helm.

It was a beautiful night under the lights this past Friday, Nov. 7. On the pitch, the Bears were able to kick off the tournament on the right footing as they netted three goals in the first half.

Scoring did not take place until the ninth minute when junior forward Andrew Chenard took a long volley from senior defender Chris Naughton, and ripped a shot inside the left post from around twenty yards out.

Almost four minutes later, sophomore defender Jonathan Pires hit a header off of a Sawyer Fleck cross. Junior defender/forward Justin Kachadoorian hit a one-timer inside right post off of a David Wilson cross in the 34th minute.

The Bears wrapped up scoring once Conor Murtagh deflected a long cross from Wilson in the back of the net to increase the Bears lead 4-0 in the 61st minute.

The lone Trailblazers goal came off of an own goal. A 23-11 shot advantage was in favor of the Bears.

As a championship game should be, scoring was scarce during Sunday’s contest. The first and last goal was netted by senior Falcons midfielder Brett Smith in the 30th minute, who finished as the tournament MVP. Colin Jepson had one save for the day as most of the Falcons shots were inaccurate.

After the match, a disappointed Murtagh voiced how proud he was of the team.

“This was not the result that we wanted. Not being the victors in a championship game hurts, but I am proud of the team and how far we’ve come, “ he said. “We are that much more motivated to get another crack at the Championship, and trust me when I say this isn’t the end but just the beginning”.

The Bears outshot the Falcons 21-7 and held a 10-2 advantage in corner kicks. The Bears now wait for a possible ECAC Tournament bid.

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