Corsairs clinch tie in closing seconds, win in OT

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NEWPORT, R.I. - Just seconds from clinching its first ever home win against UMass Dartmouth, Salve Regina University men's soccer saw a 1-0 victory slip away when the Corsairs tied the score with two ticks left in regulation before defeating the Seahawks, 2-1, in overtime.

UMass Dartmouth (3-1) improves its record in the all-time series with Salve Regina (2-4-1) to 14-5-3.

After a scoreless first half which had Salve Regina leading in shots, 10 to nine, the Corsairs doubled its attack in the second for a 10 to five edge in shots. The Seahawks were the first to score.

Freshmen Richie Leister (Navesink, N.J.) and Nathaniel Crocker (Hallowell, Maine) worked the far side with back-and-forth passing before slipping the ball into the box for Matthew Swartz (Endwell, N.Y.) who found his junior classmate Nolan Brady (Needham, Mass.) for the finishing touch. Brady's third goal of the season gave Salve Regina a 1-0 lead at 66:07.

Freshman Michael Payan (Fort Lee, N.J.) was seconds from recording his second straight shutout at home (5-0 victory over Suffolk University at Reynolds Field last Thursday), but the Corsairs took possession in their own backfield and crossed the midfield stripe with 10 second countdown.

A non-call on an apparent hand ball allowed the Corsairs to continue their attack which ended with Karim Fernandes (New Bedford, Mass.) feeding Matt Vidal (New Bedford, Mass.) with the game-tying goal at 89:58.

An injury delay followed before the final two seconds ticked off the clock and a first overtime session began.

Just after a rush from junior back Steven Aston (Sherborn, Mass.) came up short with a pass over the goal line, Wilfred Ghanyea (Monrovia, Liberia) was issued a yellow card at 92:48 for dissent by word or action.

At 93:33, junior Brandon Vasconcelos (Rehoboth, Mass.) controlled a loose ball at the top left of the box before driving it past Payan for the game-winner. Payan finished with nine saves while his counterpart, JP Rosa (Boston, Mass.), made six stops while making his first start of the season.

Salve Regina travels to Wenham, Mass., on Saturday to face the 2014 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) regular-season champion Gordon College (7 p.m.) while UMass Dartmouth travels to Western Connecticut State University to start its Little East Conference (LEC) schedule.