NEWTON, Mass. (9/4/16) – The Lasell men's soccer team suffered a 2-0 defeat to the visiting Leopards of Wentworth Institute of Technology on Sunday afternoon at Taylor Field.
Juniors Emmett Basaca (San Diego, Calif.) and Stephen Frazier (Bedford, Mass.) put the visitors on the board to extend the Leopards to 2-1 overall, while the Lasers drop to 0-2.
In the first half, the Leopards held a 13-2 advantage in shots, but neither team was able to capitalize on frame. In the 37th minute, the visitors peppered the Lasell defense nearly netting the game opener, but freshman keeper Matteo Cugno (Medford, Mass.) kept the Black and Yellow at bay.
The Lasers switched gears offensively in the second half and put up 10 shots to WIT's 12. Sophomore Kenan Omerbasic (Windsor, Conn.) tested WIT sophomore keeper Joe Schallmo (Norwood, Mass.) two minutes into the half, where Wentworth responded with five shots on net over the following 10 minutes of play.
In the 63rd minute, Basaca capitalized on a cluster in the box, and took a hard strike just outside the six for the 1-0 lead. Lasell answered with back-to-back shots on net, highlighted by a promising flick by freshman Gerald Lemus (Revere, Mass.), but Schallmo was there to keep the home team scoreless.
Wentworth put the game out of reach with four minutes left to play in regulation, as Frazier collected a rebounded shot from junior Matt Cicalis (Bridgewater, Mass.).
Cugno recorded five saves in the first 45, while freshman Jackson Burhans (Berlin, N.Y.) took the loss (0-1) with six saves in second half relief. Schallmo (1-0) earns his first win in the cage for the Leopards, saving all seven shots on net.
Lasell is off until Saturday, September 10 when they open Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at Anna Maria at 1:00 p.m. The Leopards jump back into action on Wednesday, September 7 as they play host to Mass. Maritime at 7:00 p.m.
