Corsairs' quick start downs Seahawks, 2-1

NEWPORT, R.I. - Sophomore Victor Ferreira (St. Michael, Portugal) recorded both a goal and an assist in the opening half as the UMass Dartmouth men's soccer team held on for a 2-1 victory over Salve Regina University in non-conference action at Reynolds Field on a cloudy Tuesday evening. With the win, the Corsairs improve their overall mark to 5-1, while the loss drops the Seahawks to 4-2-1 on the year.

The Seahawks had an excellent scoring chance in just the second minute of play, but junior Patrick Vierengel's (Armonk, N.Y.) shot was turned away by a strong save from UMD goalkeeper Mike Phelan (Carver, Mass.).

The Corsairs also had their chances early on in the contest, including a shot off the post by Ferreira in the ninth minute of play.

UMass Dartmouth eventually jumped on the board when Ferreira fed freshman Ryland Foster-Gorbach (West Roxbury, Mass.) in front of the net for the first goal of the match to put the Corsairs ahead, 1-0.

Ferreira extanded the Corsairs' lead to 2-0 in the 26th minute after taking a long pass from freshman Elton Borges (Praia, Cape Verde), working his way around the Seahawks' goalie, and scoring on the open net.

Salve Regina nearly cut the UMD lead in half just before intermission. Junior Bobby Ernst's (Needham, Mass.) header appeared destined for the back of the net, but it was knocked away by a UMD defensemen in the box, sending the Corsairs into the break still holding the 2-0 advantage.

After several near misses on headers, Salve Regina senior Sean McAllister (North Arlington, Mass.) gathered a loose ball in front of the net and scored an unnassisted tally in the 83rd minute to cut the UMD lead to 2-1.

The Seahawks tried desperately to tie the score in the final seven minutes of action, but the UMass Dartmouth defense held on to capture the 2-1 non-conference victory.

The Corsairs will take to the field again on Friday versus Western Connecticut, while the Seahawks return to action on Saturday when they hit the road to battle Western New England in a Commonwealth Coast Conference match up beginning at 11:00 a.m.