Men’s Soccer Clipped by Anna Maria, 1-0

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State men's soccer was unable to overcome an Anna Maria goal by Juan Gomez (East Falmouth, Mass.) in the 14^th minute as the Owls dropped a 1-0 decision to the Amcats on Tuesday afternoon from Paxton, Mass.

An Amcats corner kick set up the game's lone goal of the match. Rubelsi Moran (Holden, Mass.) lofted the ball into the box which deflected off a few players with the Owls unable to clear. The ball found the foot of Baptiste Petitjean (Fabregues, France) who fired a shot off the post with the rebound deflecting directly to the foot of Gomez who netted his first of the season 14:54 into the match.

The Owls nearly tied the game minutes later, generating a turnover in the offensive third of the field where Sonny Mazza (East Longmeadow, Mass.) chipped a pass down the left side to Nicholas Parakilas (East Windsor, Conn.) who lofted a shot over Amcats' goalie Valter Santiago's (Norwood, Mass.) head, but off the top corner of the crossbar, keeping the game at 1-0.

With under 14 minutes to play in the first half, Aidan Ferguson (Ausburg, Germany) settled possession after an Owls corner kick, finding Drew Regnier (Agawam, Mass.) alone in front of the net, setting up a one-on-one opportunity with the keeper but Regnier's low shot was stopped by Santiago.

In the second half, Tim Tkacz (Suffield, Conn.) directed a 25-yard free kick into the center of the box where Charlie Anischik (South Hadley, Mass.) headed a shot on net that was saved by Santiago. The Owls had three scoring chances in the final three minutes of the game, ending with a Ferguson strike inside the box that was corralled by Santiago to secure the shutout for Anna Maria.

The Owls had several high danger chances of their 14 shots in the game, but were unable to get one past Santiago. Westfield outshot Anna Maria 14-12, with post Santiago and Luke Theroux (Chicopee, Mass.) collecting six saves apiece. The Owls had six corners to the Amcats three in the match.

Westfield State will have a quick turnaround as the Owls visit Elms College tomorrow for a 7:00 P.M. start time.