Saratoga Springs, NY- The Lasell College men's soccer team held Skidmore College at bay for the first half of play but the Thoroughbreds produced two quick second half goals to secure a 2-0 win in the first round of the Skidmore Alumni Soccer Tournament, on Friday. The game marked the season opener for both teams. The Lasers then faced Wells College on Saturday, picking up their first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over the Bears.
In the opening game, the teams stayed about even for the first 45 minutes of play. Lasell took three shots to Skidmore's four, with the same ratio in corner kicks. Sophomore forward Kyle Cronin (Weymouth, Mass.) had a near goal for Lasell at the 21 minute mark, but a thoroughbred's defender came up with a defensive save to preserve the shutout. Lasell's goalkeeper, sophomore Matthew Bruninghaus (Plymouth, Mass.) produced three saves in the first half of the contest.
It was in the first 30 seconds of the second half that Skidmore's Matt Wolfe (Minneapolis, Minn.) picked up a rebounded ball and converted his shot into a 1-0 lead. Less than four minutes later, with 51:10 elapsed on the clock, the Thoroughbred's struck again. Matt Kelsey (Cambridge, Mass.) bumped the advantage to 2-0 with his first goal of the season. Overall, Skidmore outshot Lasell 9-3 in the second half.
Cronin produced three of the Lasers total scoring chances, while senior Shane Vinnicombe (Pomfret Center, Conn.), senior Paul Meucci (Vernon, Conn.), and freshman Mike Skelton (Conway, NH) each attempted one shot for the Lasers. Bruninghaus came up with five saves in the contest.
In the second game of the tournament, the Lasers faced Wells College beating them 1-0. It was Cronin who successfully broke a scoreless tie with less than seven minutes remaining in the contest. This marked Cronin's first goal of the season.
The Lasers were dominant throughout the game, outshooting the Express 10-1 in the first half and 9-3 in the second, however, they were not able to put up a goal.
After nearly 84 scoreless minutes, Cronin was able to beat Well's keeper Mike Birklin off a crossed pass from junior forward Dan Hatch (Avon, Mass.) to tally the game winner for the Lasers.
Bruninghaus was awarded the shutout as the Lasers improved to 1-1 on the young season.
The next time the Lasers will be in action is in their home opener on Wednesday, September 9th when Lasell will face Rhode Island College, in non-conference competition. The game will be played on Taylor Field on the Lasell College campus at 4:00 p.m.