FALCONS SOAR PAST PRIDE, 3-1

WESTON, Mass. – Fitchburg State University's Jason Pereira (Wilmington, Mass.) netted a pair of goals and added an assist in a five point day as the Falcons defeated host Regis College, 3-1, on Wednesday night in non-conference men's soccer action. FSU improves to 2-6-1 overall on the year, while Regis falls to 3-8.

Fitchburg State struck first as Kenneth Kelly (Marstons Mills, Mass.) found a streaking Pereira down the middle of the field and Pereira beat Chris Campbell (South Hadley, Mass.) one-on-one with an opposite post blast to give the Falcons an early 1-0 lead only 6:49 into the opening half. The Falcons padded their lead to 2-0 when Pereira hit George Sullivan (Milton, Mass.) on the right side, and after beating his defender, placed a ball on net that caromed off the post and in.

Regis entered the scoring column with just over 15 minutes remaining in the first period as the Falcons were called for a foul inside the box. Current New England Collegiate Conference Player of the Week Steve Tavares (Bellingham, Mass.) stepped to the line and buried his 10th goal of the season to cut the deficit in half.

That would be all the offense in the first period as the Falcons entered the break with a one-goal lead. Fitchburg State held a 12-7 advantage in shots and also held a slight edge in corners at 3-2. Regis' Chris Campbell made four saves in net, while FSU's Aidan Hanratty (East Bridgewater, Mass.) made a pair of stops in the first half.

The Pride tried to find the equalizer early as Kenny Charron (West Warwick, R.I.) took three shots on goal that were all turned away by Hanratty. Renato Rosas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) added two shots in the stretch that were saved and blocked as well as the score remained 2-1 through the opening eight minutes of the second frame.

After a pair of offsides calls against the Falcons, Fitchburg State finally got one through as Carmen Bordonaro (Saugus, Mass.) received a pass that left him one-on-one with new Regis netminder Stefan Todorovic (Los Angeles, Calif.). Bordonaro flicked the ball over Todorovic's outstretched hands and found Pereira in front of an open net for his second tally of the game that stretched the Falcon lead to 3-1.

The Pride only attempted four more shots in the game as the Falcons defense kept the Pride offense out of the box en route to their 3-1 win.

Regis outshot the Falcons at a 12-4 clip in the second half and held a 19-16 advantage for the game. They also took five corners to FSU's three. Aidan Hanratty improved to 2-5-1 on the year while making six saves and allowing one goal. Chris Campbell suffered the setback in dropping to 0-3, while Todorovic played the final 45 minutes and allowed only the one goal.

After a stretch that saw the Pride play five games over the past nine days, Regis does not return to action until Wednesday, October 3rd, with a non-conference matchup with Anna Maria at 4:00 p.m. The Falcons travel to Buzzards Bay, Mass. on Saturday afternoon for a 12:00 p.m. MASCAC match with Massachusetts Maritime.