MIT defeats Salve Regina, 4-1

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In what appeared to be a close game at the start of the second half, the MIT men's soccer team defeated Salve Regina University by a score of 4-1 at home on Wednesday evening. Tech is now 6-3-1 for the season, while the Seahawks dip to 5-6-1. 

Early on in the first half, sophomore goalkeeper Jake Amereno (Commack, N.Y.) made a great save when he was shot at point blank by Alexander Hoglund, knocking the ball out of harm's way so senior Andrew Fijan (West Chester, Pa.) could kick it out of play. At 7:51, sophomore Sean Bingham (Garden City, N.Y.) pocketed his tenth goal of the seal after receiving a pass from classmate Austin Freel (San Diego, Calif.), breaking through defenders in the center of the box and shooting to the left of the net. Keeper Daniel Stern (Kings Park, N.Y.) recovered quickly, making an impressive save a few minutes later when he pushed the ball rocketed at him by Freel just over the crossbar. 

With eight minutes remaining in the half, the ball landed deep in the Seahawks' box. With each team frantically trying to gain possession, junior Chester Chambers (Columbia, Md.) booted the ball from the near corner of the field, hitting it off the crossbar before it was tipped into the net, notching his first goal of the season. 

MIT's 2-0 lead going into the second half did not last long, as the Seahawks got on the board less than 10 minutes into the period. With a strong kick from Stern all the way down at the other end of the field, Alex Wasilewski (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) was able to bring Amereno out of the net far enough to sink the ball into the center of the net. That goal was all Salve Regina needed to turn up the intensity and the game quickly became a lot more aggressive. At the 71 minute mark, Freel had a great run down the middle of the field with Bingham and senior Matthew Monheit (Abington, Pa.) to either side of him to pull the defenders away. He passed to Monheit, who fired the ball to the right of the net with ease, giving the Engineers their third goal of the night.

With five minutes remaining on the clock, junior Alexander Dago (Chicago, Ill.) scored his first goal of the season, sending a clean, swift shot from near the center of the field that flew over Stern's hands. With less than two minutes left in the game, it looked as if Salve Regina might score its second goal of the game when Zak Bissell fired a high shoot well over Amereno's head, but the sophomore keeper was able to punch the shot out of danger. The game ended soon after with an MIT victory. 

MIT outshot Salve Regina, 22-9. Stern made eight saves while Amereno, who earned the win and is now 5-1-1 for the season, had to make seven saves. Freel, who tallied two assists during the game, did a great job at distributing the ball and evading defenders. He led the Engineers with his five shots, two of which had to be saved by Stern.