Nick Manocchio netted NEC's first goal in Tuesday's tie with Wentworth.
Men's Soccer battles Wentworth to a draw
New England College and the Wentworth Institute of Technology Leopards would battle through the final 36 minutes of play scoreless in route to a 2-2 draw Tuesday afternoon. With the tie the Pilgrims move to 8-3-3 overall and 6-1-2 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) play. The tie moves the Leopards to 4-8-3 overall and 3-4-1 in TCCC action.
New England College wouldn’t waste much time as sophomore forward Nick Manocchio (Chepachet, R.I.) would net his second goal of the season off an assist from Dean Smith (Schwenksville, Pa.) just 2:19 into the opening half. The Wentworth defense would settle after the early goal as keeper Joe Simon (Pittsfield, Mass.) would record four first half saves and hold NEC scoreless for the remainder of the half.
The Leopards would tie the game just before halftime as Kyle Nasman (Lenox, Mass.) would receive a feed from Josh Deschene (Webster, Mass.) and sneak a shot past the Pilgrim defense knotting the game at 1-1.
The Pilgrims regain the lead early in the second half as Smith would head in his team-high sixth goal of the season off a pass from Diego Saldeno (Caracas, Venezuela) at the 52:39 mark. Wentworth’s John Geleski responded as he would punch in a loose ball in front of the net at the 74:34. Neither team would be able to find the net in the final 16 minutes of play forcing overtime.
The two teams would battle through two scoreless overtimes as NEC would record the only shot on goal but Simon would make the save keeping the Pilgrims off the board and holding on for the 2-2 tie.
Leading the way for Wentworth was Kyle Nasman who finished with a goal and an assist. Leading the way for NEC was Dean Smith who also scored a goal and picked up an assist.
In goal for the Pilgrims was Jon Mayo (Merrimack, N.H.) who finished the game with five saves. Wentworth’s Joe Simon played all 110 minutes in net and recorded seven saves on the afternoon.
New England College will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 18 when they travel to take on conference opponent Endicott College at 6:30 p.m. Wentworth will host conference opponent Colby-Sawyer College on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 4:00 p.m.
