NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The Trailblazer of MCLA and the Bears of Bridgewater State College played to a 1-1 tie this afternoon from North Adams, Massachusetts. The game marked the MASCAC opener for both teams.
In the 27th minute the Trailblazers fell behind as Jon Machado (Weymouth, MA) led Luke Brewer (Edgartown, MA) deep down the left sideline; Brewer raced ahead of the last Trailblazer defender, corralled the pass and whistled a shot past MCLA goalkeeper Adam Tarsa (Adams, MA) for a 1-0 lead.
The Bears took that lead into the break and had multiple opportunities to put the game away. Adam Tarsa who was solid all game and spectacular at times kept the Trailblazers in the game and was rewarded early in the 2nd half.
MCLA came out on the attack right away and Raul Escobar (Ashley Falls, MA) blasted a shot from the top left corner of the box underneath the crossbar to tie the game at 1-1. That was exactly what the Blazers needed as the second half and both overtimes saw both teams playing good soccer and creating multiple chances.
Brewer was a force all day and had two great chances to give the Bears the win in regulation. With 5:58 remaining, the first opportunity just missed going past the far post from about 12 feet out. A minute and a half later he drilled the crossbar from 20 feet out straight on. In overtime, Tarsa made several big saves stopping Donald Flores (Cranston, RI) with a kick save from 5 feet away and a minute later making another terrific stop on Flores.
MCLA had its chances as well as Escobar was robbed of his second goal of the day by Bears goalie Ryan Seifert (Ludlow, MA), who also played very well. Both goalies had help, with as many as 5 shots caroming off the post or crossbar throughout the game.
Brian Szabo (Needham, MA) appeared to give the Blazers the win with three minutes to play in the second OT. Szabo's shot looked to go in under the crossbar; and many MCLA players stopped play thinking the goal was good, but the ball bounced out without crossing the line and they played on.
With under a minute to go both teams feverishly tried to go ahead, and with under 30 seconds freshman Chris Swindell (Milford, MA) broke in all alone on Tarsa, Tarsa came out to cut down the angle and Swindell drilled a shot into the chest of the MCLA netminder; Tarsa bobbled the shot for a second, but held on and both teams had earned a hard fought point in the MASCAC conference opener for both teams.
Brewer led the Bears with seven shots, many quality chances and Swindell added five. Seifert made seven saves for the Bears. Escobar had four shots and MCLA's first goal since the second game of the year. Tarsa had 11 saves for the Trailblazers, many of them big ones.
Bridgewater State (4-1-1) next hosts Little East opponent Rhode Island College Tuesday at 3:30. MCLA (2-3-1) will host Castleton State Tuesday at 4:00 at Ron Shewcraft Field.