Newton, Mass.- Jonathan Klippert (Cumberland, ME) drilled home the game-winning goal for Lasell College with just one minute left to play in regulation, to seal a 3-2 victory over Rhode Island College in non-conference men's soccer action this afternoon, on Taylor Field. The Lasers improve their record to 2-1-0 over, while the Anchormen drop to 0-3-1 on the year.
The contest proved to be fairly even throughout as the teams found themselves locked in a stalemate for nearly 55 minutes of play before Klippert's goal broke the tie. Overall, Rhode Island attempted only four more shots than Lasell did, outshooting the Lasers 16-12, however, the Lasers' goalkeeper, Julian Dutton (Madison, Conn.) was impressive in net, making eight total saves while earning his first win of the season.
The Lasers opened the scoring in the first two minutes of the contest as Paul Meucci (Vernon, Conn.) connected with a header off a corner kick from Dan Hatch (Avon, Mass.), just 1:45 into the half.
RIC retaliated with a goal of their own less than ten minutes later as Julian Montoya (North Providence, RI) took a header off a cross from Bruno Costa (Cumberland, RI), beating Dutton in the play.
However, Lasell's Kyle Cronin (Weymouth, Mass.) returned the favor, at 14:09, as he controlled the ball for an open shot in the short left corner of the goal box to give the Lasers the edge once again.
For nearly 19 minutes, the Lasers held onto the lead before the Anchormen struck again. After a throw in, Jose Ruiz (Providence, RI) ripped a pass to an open Ryan Kelley (Hope, RI) who notched the second tying goal. The teams broke for intermission in a 2-2 deadlock.
Around midway into the second, Rhode Island's Joshua Sousa (Cumberland, RI) attempted two shots that near gave the Anchormen their first lead, however Meucci stepped in defensively for a team save on the first shot, and Dutton collected the ball for the save on the second.
Hatch also had a close call for Lasell at the 63rd minute when he attacked on a breakaway; however RIC's netminder, Andrew Hogan (North Providence, RI) made a huge save to maintain the tie.
With time ticking away on the clock, the teams looked like they were on the path to sudden death overtime. It was with 1:01 remaining that Klippert nailed the long shot off a perfectly placed cross from Tholemson Francios (Stoneham, Mass.) to seal the victory for Lasell.
Lasell returns to home field action on Saturday, September 12th at 1:00 p.m. when they will face Suffolk University on Taylor Field. The game will mark the opening of conference play for both teams.