09/13/2008
Salem State Knocks Off Men's Soccer

WORCESTER, MASS. 09/19/07 - Freshman forward Matt Figueiredo (Wilmington, Mass.) scored the game-winner with 1:21 remaining in regulation to lift the Salem State College men's soccer team to a non-conference victory over Clark University at Granger Field on Saturday afternoon.

Clark (4-1-1), which entered the contest ranked 10th in New England by the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll, had its five-game unbeaten streak snapped, while the Vikings (4-0) remained undefeated.

The winning goal was set up when Figueiredo took a pass just over the midfield line and dribbled the ball towards the goal. He went in alone and beat Clark keeper Peter Wise (Providence, R.I.) for the game-winner.

Freshman Kenny Howard (Longmeadow, Mass.) had a chance to tie it up with just 17 seconds left to play, but his bid was turned away by Vikings goalie Pawel Brzykcy (Krakow, Poland).

Rookie Rafael Santosa (East Boston, Mass.) gave Salem State a 1-0 lead when he drove a pass from Andrew Angus (Dorchester, Mass.) into the lower right corner of the net at the 26:17 mark of the first half.

Clark had a pair of solid chances to grab the equalizer, but Brzykcy made spectacular saves on Greg Jancarik's (Swansea, Mass.) shot inside the six at 16:46 and an attempt by Preben Gietz (Waterloo, Belgium) with 5:16 remaining in the half.

The Cougars had the better of the play at the start of the second half. Just over one minute into the frame, junior John Machado (Bristol, Conn.) blasted a shot from 20-yards out for a 1-1 game and his first goal of the year. Howard nearly gave Clark the lead just five minutes later, but his goal was called off-sides.

However, Clark would not be denied. After Adrian Blackadar's (Warwick, R.I.) shot clanged off the left post, Jancarik collected the rebound and slid it under Viking goalie Brzykcy to take a 2-1 advantage at 21:31.

Clark limited the visitors chances over the next 10 minutes, until Angus headed a pass from Yuta Kizaki (Karat-Su-Shi, Japan) into the back of the net to tie it 2-all with 11:23 remaining.

The Cougars had a legitimate chance to take the lead again with a 2-on-1 advantage against Brzykcy, but a Salem State defender came from behind to knock the ball away at 9:50.

That set the stage for Figueiredo's game-winning marker.

Clark finished the match with a slim 17-16 advantage in shots and a 7-4 margin on corner kicks.

Wise was credited with four saves in goal for Clark, while Brzyczy stopped 10 shots for Salem State.

Clark will play at Lasell College on Wednesday (4 p.m.). Salem State will host UMass-Dartmouth on that same day (7 p.m.).