Flores, Rams Top Emerson 1-0 in GNAC Playoff Opener
Senior scores lone goal as Suffolk advances to take on Lasell on Tuesday.
Somerville, Mass. -- The Suffolk University Men's Soccer team (9-7-1) topped the Emerson College Lions (8-9-1) in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Quarterfinals on Saturday evening.
Senior Luis Flores (Madrid, Spain) scored the game's lone goal in the sixtieth minute of the contest with a shot from twenty yards out. Flores took a field long pass from junior Danny Lloyd (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) and ran down the right side of the field looping a shot into the net for the game-winner.
Freshman Matt Esposito (Wallingford, Conn.) made six saves in the shutout for the Rams.
Emerson had a chance to tie the game with ten minutes remaining as the GNAC's leading score Jacob Lawrence (Clifton, Va.) had a wide open goal, but Suffolk's David Best (Westminster, Mass.) made the defensive play of the evening kicking the goal out his own net before the ball could cross over the line. Lawrence would nearly strike again a minute later beating the Suffolk defense but his shot was wide of the net.
Neither side could score a goal in the first half, but there was plenty of action as Emerson outshot Suffolk by an eight to seven margin. Both teams had golden scoring opportunities. Lloyd had a breakaway seven minutes into the game but could not convert. Flores also missed a wide open net for another Suffolk scoring opportunity thirty minutes into the contest as his shot was deflected by a Lions' defender. Esposito made a couple of terrific saves for the Rams keeping the Lions at bay. Esposito stopped a shot at point blank range kicked by senior Charlie Murphy (Hudson, N.H.) in front of the goal off of a corner kick for the Lions. With eleven minutes remaining in the half, Esposito made a sprawling mid air save to stop a shot by junior Cory Walls (Scituate, Mass.).
Suffolk outshot the Lions 17-14 in the contest.
Sophomore Aaraon Drescher (Latham, N.Y.) made nine saves in the loss for Emerson.
Suffolk advances and will take on top-seeded Lasell College on Tuesday, November 2nd in the GNAC Semi-Finals. Lasell were 2-1 winners on Saturday over Johnson & Wales University.