MUKALA LEADS PRIDE OVER DANIEL WEBSTER

WESTON, Mass. – Sophomore midfielder Christian Mukala's (Malden, Mass.) goal in the 73rd minute stood up as the lone tally of the contest as Regis College defeated Daniel Webster College, 1-0, on Monday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference men's soccer action.

The Pride improve to 3-8-2 overall and grab their first league win of the year to move to 1-2-1, while the Eagles fall to 6-6-1 overall and 1-3 in NECC contests.

The teams played to a 0-0 draw at the half as the Pride had a pair of opportunities to score the game's first goal. Graham Sutherland (North Kingstown, R.I.) had a chance nine minutes into the contest as he corralled a loose ball in the box. Sutherland tried a shot opposite post on what appeared an open net, but Daniel Webster's Mark Hogan (Haverhill, Mass.) stepped in front of the shot and kicked it out to keep the score deadlocked.

Nearly seven minutes later, Billy Sedewitz (Framingham, Mass.) played a ball into the box that found Nana Kwarteng (Milford, Mass.). Kwarteng tried to flick the ball over the keeper's hands, but Sean Hamilton (Brookline, N.H.) stretched out and deflected the ball over the crossbar, keeping Regis off the board.

Daniel Webster's best chance of the half came in the 20th minute as Erick Germano (Lowell, Mass.) played a through ball to the feet of Ian Hutchinson (Litchfield, N.H.) that left him one on one with the Pride's Stefan Todorovic (Los Angeles, Calif.). Hutchinson had an open shot on the opposite post, but the ball skipped just wide of its mark.

The Eagles took the first two shots of the second half, but neither team put together much offense to start the period. Finally in the 73rd minute, the Pride were awarded a free kick from near midfield. Cody Puglisi (Centereach, N.Y.) lofted the ball into the box where Jeff Parrish (Framingham, Mass.) got his head on the ball. The shot was headed wide, but Mukala was there to corral the miss and buried the shot into the back of the net to give Regis a 1-0 lead.

Daniel Webster turned up the intensity over the final 15 minutes as they worked hard to find the equalizer. The Eagles earned a corner kick with less than two minutes to play, but the Regis defense cleared the ball out to midfield. DWC's Eusebio Marote (Lowell, Mass.) gained possession and fired a shot on net. The ball just missed the top right corner of the goal, and Regis eventually got the ball out of its own end as time expired to hang on for the 1-0 win.

Regis outshot Daniel Webster at a 14-6 clip and held a 9-1 advantage in corner kicks. Stefan Todorovic made one save in net to earn his first win of the year, while Sean Hamilton made four saves in defeat.

The Pride return to action on Saturday afternoon with a 12:00 p.m. contest at Becker College. Daniel Webster is also in action on Saturday when they host Lesley University at 4:00 p.m.