Fitchburg State Closes Out Salem State, 6-3

Five different Falcons score in senior day victory

FITCHBURG, Mass. – Fans of goals were treated to a high-scoring affair between Salem State and Fitchburg State this afternoon at Elliot Field as the Falcons upped the Vikings by a final of 6-3 on senior day, snapping their recent five game losing streak while putting up their highest goal-tally of the year.

The first goal of the contest took just three minutes as freshman Zachary Young gave the Falcons their first lead, taking a headed pass by junior Jefferson Acha and sending his shot by Vikings keeper Greg Enos to put the home team up one.

Salem State would respond moments later after some stellar passing opened up the box for the Vikings, allowing Kevin Gallo to launch his shot on target past the diving Alex Al-Zaibak to knot it up a one apiece.

The Green and Gold continued to jostle for control, regaining the lead after Alex Calder's free-kick from 30 yards out was redirected by classmate and senior defender Zachary Tracy, giving the Falcons their second lead of the day.

Mitch Tepe found the equalizer for Salem State with 14:58 left in the first half after multiple shots on net had Falcons goalkeeper Al-Zaibak scrambling in the crease and unable to get back, leaving the net open for the Vikings second goal. 

Two minutes of action went by before we saw yet another goal at Elliot Field. This time it was sophomore forward Nicolas Masley placing his first goal of the season top shelf to gain the 3-2 edge.

The Falcons doubled their lead late in the first half when senior Issa Ford hit his open teammate Matt Beauregard with a remarkable back heel pass. Beauregard converted his one-on-one with the goalkeeper giving Fitchburg State a 4-2 cushion.

Salem State kept coming as Gallo notched his second of the day with a minute in the first half - sending a high shot toward an open-net from 20 yards out, picking up his fifth of the season in the process.

As the second half of play resumed, so did the scoring. Just one minute into the second 45 minutes Masley tallied his second of the year taking the pass from Steven Martinez to increase the Falcon lead. (5-3).

Gallo would have the best second-half scoring chance for the Vikings but the junior midfielder missed a wide-open net, knocking his attempt off of the top post.

Salem State remained quiet throughout the second half of play as the Fitchburg defense successfully contained the comeback attempt.

In the 86th minute of play the Green and Gold got an insurance goal as freshman Tonnis James headed his first goal of the season off of a corner from Tom Sorrentino, resulting in the final tally of 6-2.

In the contest Fitchburg State amassed 34 total shots, putting up 22 during the first half of play, while the Vikings finished with nine shots overall. The Falcons also had nine opportunities from the corner, while Salem took three kicks from the corner flags.

Junior net-minder Alex Al-Zaibak faced six shots on target by the Salem State offense making three saves during the entire 90 minutes of action. Vikings sophomore Greg Enos finished with 11 saves in the complete game effort.

Prior to the contest, the Fitchburg State men's soccer team honored eight seniors playing in their final regular season home contest as seniors Tyler Lapierre, Tom Sorrentino, Alex Calder, Zachary Tracy, Josh Hofer, Issa Ford, Franck Wansi and Blaine Bolduc were honored for their contributions to the program.

With today's contest, Fitchburg State (6-11-0, 2-5-0 MASCAC) and Salem State (2-14-0, 1-6-0 MASCAC) conclude their 2015 campaigns.

Courtesy of Fitchburg State Student Journalist Kyle Prudhomme

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