Men's Soccer Drops Season Opener To Denison

Springfield, Mass. - September 2, 2022 - The Springfield College men's soccer program falls in the 2022 season opener to Denison University, 5-0, on Friday night at Brock-Affleck Field. 

Springfield is handed its first loss of the season, while Denison picks up the victory. The Big Red outshot the Pride, 24-10, and held the slight edge in corner kicks and saves.

Denison scored right out the gate as an offside call was overturned, which awarded Ethan Miracle the score to give the Big Red a 1-0 lead. Moments later, Luke Mattessich slipped a strike past an outstretched Knibbs to add another to scoreboard at 3:13. On the next possession for Springfield, Sebastian Correia (West Warwick, R.I.) laid in a corner kick to a rising Patrick Silva (Pittsifield, Mass.), who attempted to head in a shot to cut into the early deficit, however Tommy Prokos met the ball to keep Denison's lead at 2-0. Springfield defended the Big Red well for the remainder of the half and received great scoring chances, but could not convert. At 34:14, a penalty shot gave Denison a 3-0 cushion. Before the half concluded, Springfield had a pair of chances from Matthew Mela (Natick, Mass.) and Matias Otero (Rye Brook, N.Y.). The latter came at the 40:26 mark as Otero flipped the ball over the Prokos and nearly skated it into the goal, yet Luke Mattessich cleared the defensive save for Denison. 

In the second half, Miracle added his second goal at 55:36, before Rohan Tripathy headed in another score with 15 minutes left in the contest that would later prove to be the final score and hand Springfield its first loss of the season. 

The Pride travel to Williams College on Tuesday for a 4:00 matchup with the Ephs. 

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