September 11, 2009

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – With 3:08 remaining in the second overtime period, Harrison Doyle registered his second goal of the game to give visiting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps a 2-1 victory over MIT in non-conference men’s soccer action on Friday night. The win raised the Stags’ ledger to 1-1 on the year while the Engineers dipped to 3-2.

The early stages of the contest were a defensive battle as CMS posted the first shot of the game after 21 minutes elapsed. The Stags maintained the pressure, notching a shot and two corner kicks before Doyle found the back of the net. From 20 yards out, he collected the ball off his chest and sent a blast that hit the crossbar and bounced into the net in the 28th minute. CMS controlled play for most of the frame, tallying five shots and five corner kicks, and eventually entering the break with the 1-0 lead.

MIT nearly registered the equalizer on a free kick by Christian Therkelsen in the 67th minute. Standing 20 yards away from the goal on the left sideline, the junior forward curved his shot around the right side of the wall but Stags’ goalie Ryan Fahey made a diving save which kept the ball out of the top left corner. The Engineers continued to attack as it notched the equalizer in the 75th minute. On a free kick from just inside the midfield line, Kevin Chou sent a blast into the wind which Fahey attempted to punch out, but the ball spun backwards and into the goal.

Both sides had several chances to capture the lead during the final 14 minutes of regulation; however solid play by both goaltenders maintained the deadlock. Rodrigo Bravo avoided a trio of slide-tackles by MIT defenders before sending a pass to Ryan Weaver whose strike was stopped by goalie Dylan Rankin. Less than a minute later, Rankin broke up a dangerous cross from Weaver. With 10 minutes on the clock, Chou directed a 35-yard free kick into the box that was headed by Ben Lewis. Fahey stopped the shot and quickly pulled the ball in before it crossed the line. In the 88th minute, MIT’s Zachary Kabelac sent a cross that was chested by Lewis in front of the goal. Fahey instantly grabbed the ball before Lewis could get off a shot.

The impregnable goal-line defense held up during the first overtime session as it denied a pair of quality scoring attempts from both squads. Less than three minutes into the period, Christian Paullin sent a threatening shot on net that was stopped by Rankin. On the Engineers’ counterattack, Therkelsen found himself in a one-on-one situation with Fahey but the scoring opportunity was thwarted by a diving grab from the Stags’ netminder.

Rankin finished the night with five saves for the Engineers as Fahey collected three of his own.

MIT continues play on Saturday, Sept. 12 when it travels to Newbury College. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps wraps up it east coast trip on Sunday, Sept. 13 at Babson College.