Men's Soccer tops Suffolk for first win of 2014

Story Courtesy of Suffolk Sports Information

SOMERVILLE, Mass. – The Rivier University Raiders took a 2-0 victory at the hands of the Suffolk University Men's Soccer team in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Saturday afternoon at Dilboy Stadium in Somerville.

Freshman Ben Noelk (Georgetown, Mass.) and sophomore Anthony Capozzi (Windham, N.H.) each scored goals for the Raiders who earned their first victory of the 2014 season in their first conference match of the season.

Noelk scored the game's first goal in the fourth minute of the contest as he was able to take advantage of a turnover and connect on a shot from the 15 yard mark for his first career collegiate goal.

Suffolk would have plenty of opportunities in the contest as they held the advantage in shots at 19-11 throughout the game. On three separate occasions the Rams managed to come up just shy as their shots at the net would connect off the cross bar.

Just thirty seconds after Noelk's strike, senior Djibril Niang (Dakar, Senegal) would find an opening deep in Rivier's zone but narrowly missed as his shot hit the top of the goal. Niang would find another opportunity with two minutes remaining in the first half as his chance to score on an open net was negated by a Rivier defender who stepped in to make a save to help preserve the one goal advantage.

Later on a free kick in the seventy-fifth minute of the game, sophomore Ben Daniels (Nantucket, Mass.) had his shot from 25 yards out hit iron.

In the closing seconds of the game, Capozzi would turn a loose ball into an insurance goal for Rivier as he was able to come free on the left side putting home the clincher with fifteen seconds on the clock.

Sophomore Gary Archambault (Auburn, N.H.) made seven saves in goal for Rivier en route to the shutout.

Junior Nicholas Chamma (Rio de Janero, Brazil) pushed aside eight Raiders' shots in the losing effort for the Rams.

Both teams will be back in non-conference action on Wednesday evening. Rivier will host Colby-Sawyer College at 7:00pm, while Suffolk hosts Regis College at Dilboy Stadium beginning at 8:00pm.