Second half outburst lifts MCLA Men's Soccer past Westfield 4-0
Westfield, MA- The MCLA Men's Soccer team used an explosive second half outburst scoring four times in the closing period en route to a convincing 4-0 win over rival Westfield State. The Trailblazers are now 4-7-1 overall and improve to 1-3-1 in conference play. The Owls are now 4-9 overall and fall to 2-3 in league play.
Following a scoreless opening half, the hosts had a golden chance to break out in the 53rd minute as they earned a penalty kick. Trailblazer keeper Matt Robinson made a tremendous save to keep the game scoreless and it seemed change the momentum in favor of MCLA.
Dylan Pereira tallied his team leading 11th goal of the season just three minutes later in what proved to be the game winner. He took a feed from Edward Boateng to beat Owl keeper Kris Carrington.
MCLA added another goal in the 70th minute on Mitch Candelet's second goal of the season to push out to a 2-0 lead. The Trailblazers would add two late goals as Drew Webster found the back of the net in the 80th minute and then Boateng rounded out the scoring in the 88th minute.
Robinson earned the shutout stopping four shots for MCLA. Carrington also made four stops for the Owls.
Westfield owned a slim 13-12 shot advantage and also held a 6-2 mark in corners.
The Trailblazers are off until Saturday when they travel to Bridgewater State.