Luciano’s Late Goal Lifts Lasell Over Rhode Island

NEWTON, MA- Adam Luciano (Fairfield, CT) scored with under ten minutes left in regulation to lift Lasell College men's soccer over Rhode Island College, 4-3, on Wednesday night at Taylor Field.  The contest featured four lead changes and three ties before Luciano's game-winner, at 81:28. The victory broke up Lasell's five game slide (0-3-2) and improved their record to 7-3-3.  Rhode Island's record stands at 7-6 this year.

Aren Moorman (Somerset, NJ) made three saves en route to his seventh victory of the season in a complete game between the pipes.  Christopher Duarte (Cumberland, RI) was hit with the loss, turning aside four saves in the process.

Mike Skelton (Conway, NH) scored twice for Lasell while Luciano added an assist to his game-deciding tally.  Jonathan Klippert (Cumberland, ME) added the final marker of the game for Lasell.

The game was back-and-forth from the opening moments with the longest stretch between goals stood at 24:30.  The squads were fairly even in shots, Rhode Island edging Lasell 19-12, and level in corner kicks, 2-2, throughout the contest.

Rhode Island opened up scoring in the third minute when Peter Amoriggi (Smithfield, RI) let loose a cannon from the left field at just six yards out after beating two defenders.  Patrick LaRoche (Gardner, MA) had set forth the pass to find Amoriggi at point-blank range.

Despite excellent scoring chances, it took Lasell over 27 minutes to get on the board.  At 27:37, Lasell was successful in knotting the score when Nery Guerra (Guatemala City, Guatemala) broke free of the defense and dashed down the left field.  Luciano was there to pick up the pass from Guerra and then sent a through ball to Skelton who tipped in the goal.

The Lasers took the lead, at 38:07, when Evan Gaccione (Westerly, RI) dribbled down the far sideline and just as the defense converged on him, fired off a pass to Skelton waiting directly in front of the net. Skelton footed the pass to the opposite corner past a diving Duarte for the 2-1 edge.

The slight advantage held through the remaining minutes of the first half. Rhode Island had produced an 8-5 edge in shots in the period while Lasell got off the only two corner kicks of the frame.

The Anchormen evened the score again at 58:39 when David Ricci (Smithfield, RI) drove a corner kick towards Lasell's net which Moorman came out to punch away.  The ricocheted ball was picked up by Emmanuel Asiedu (Lincoln, RI) and tucked inside the left post for the score.

Ricci altered the score once more after a scrum of players collided in the Lasers penalty box in the 68th minute.  Bruno Costa (Pawtucket, RI) put the ball into the action and Ricci headed in the ball amongst the chaos.

Lasell answered back immediately as Jonathan Klippert (Cumberland, ME) used a head ball to put in the sixth goal of the game just  one and half minutes later.

The final goal of the game came with less than eight minutes to play.  Ryan Montemurro (Meriden, CT) picked off a pass from the Anchormen's defense and centered the ball which found Luciano as its intended target.  Luciano put away the goal and Lasell held on through the rest of regulation for the non-conference triumph.

Lasell returns to action on Saturday, October 15th on Taylor Field when they host Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contender St. Joseph's College of Maine at 2:30 p.m.  The Monks currently stand in 2nd place overall in the conference.