Fitzgerald Strike Sends Lasell Past Clark in Men's Soccer

NEWTON, Mass. (9/23/14) – The Lasell College men's soccer team used a 70^th minute goal from junior Conor Fitzgerald (Marshfield, Mass.) to register a 1-0 non-conference victory over visiting Clark University on Tuesday afternoon at Taylor Field. Lasell upped their record to 4-3 overall, while the visiting Cougars slid to 3-6 for the 2014 season.

Yousef Shahin (Bridgeport, Conn.) forced Lasers' goalkeeper Miguel Colmenares (Caracas, Venezuela) into a save in just the 2^nd minute of the match, but the early chance from the Cougars woke the hosts up as Lasell quickly gained control of the possession battle and forced Clark to defend for large stretches of play. Despite controlling possession and holding an edge in shots for a large portion of the half, Lasell was unable to create a scoring chance, and Colmenares had to make a save late in the first half to keep the score level at 0-0 at the break. Lasell out-shot the visitors 8-3 in the half but a pair of saves by Clark keeper Connor Maguire (Dunstable, Mass.) and some errant Lasell shots prevented any scoring.

Play opened up early in the second half as both sides created early chances. Colmenares stopped a Kyle Russo (Westford, Mass.) effort in the 49^th minute, while Maguire saved three Lasell shots in the first eight minutes of the half. A Lasell long ball was headed back by a Clark midfielder and after Conor Fitzgerald got a foot on it the junior forward out-maneuvered a Cougars back to create space at the top of the 18-yard box then tucked a brilliant strike just under the bar and beyond Maguire's reach to put Lasell on top and eventually send the hosts to victory.

Lasell will resume play on Saturday September 27^th when they host GNAC foe Norwich University at 1:00 p.m. Clark will host the Coast Guard Academy on Saturday September 27^th at 1:00 p.m.