Falcons Blaze Past Elms in Season Opener
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Elms (0-1) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
Fitchburg St. (1-0) | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Falcons Blaze Past Elms in Season Opener
Fitchburg, Mass. – Led by a pair of goals from sophomore Matthew Krikorian (Groton, Mass.), the Fitchburg State University men's soccer team opened the 2017 campaign with at 3-1 victory against Elms College at Elliot Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Basics
Score: Fitchburg State University 3, Elms College 1
Records: Fitchburg State University (1-0) | Elms College (0-1)
How It Happened
Fitchburg State saw quality early chances, but didn't get on the board until the 20:38 mark when Krikorian corralled the through pass from Zachary Young (Capo Beach, Calif.) and found the back the net for his first of the season.
In the 41st minute, senior Jefferson Acha (Lynn, Mass.) connected with a crossing pass from freshman Yannick DePina (Boston, Mass.) and deposited the ball past the sprawled out Blazers' keeper to extend the Falcons lead.
Elms cut the Green and Golds' advantage in half right at the start of the second stanza, when Colby Macdonald buried the first goal for the visitors at the 51-minute mark.
Senior Ibrahima Male (Pawtucket, RI) found Krikorian at the near post to extend the lead for Fitchburg State to 3-1 in the 68th minute.
Inside the Numbers
Fitchburg State held the advantage in shots (18-11) and corner kicks (5-3).
FSU senior Alex Al-Zaibak (Hingham, Mass.) made seven saves for the win, while Julian Brosi posted 7 saves in the loss for Elms.
Falcons' Jefferson Acha tallied his first collegiate goal.
Seventh meeting with Elms on the pitch with the Falcons currently 6-1-0 when taking on the Blazers.
Green and Gold have won the last five meeting against Elms College.
Fitchburg State senior keeper Alex Al-Zaibak ranks ninth all-time in career games played for a goaltender with 24 games played in net.
Up Next
The Falcons return to the pitch on Wednesday, September 6th when they host UMass Dartmouth at 4:00pm. Elms is back in action the same afternoon when they travel to Nichols at 4:00pm.
