Strong second half lifts Wentworth past NEC
Wentworth Institute of Technology men’s soccer explode for five second half goals lifting the Leopards past the New England College Pilgrims 5-2 Thursday afternoon in Henniker. With the win Wentworth evens their overall record at 5-5-0 and improves their conference record to 4-3-0. The loss evens NEC’s overall record at 5-5-1 and 3-3-1 in conference play.
Wentworth’s Ben Nasman (Lenox, Mass.) would break the scoring drought early in the second half as he would put in a cross from Josh Deschene (Webster, Mass.) with just 31 seconds off the clock.
NEC would respond at the 54:34 mark as Peter Koskores (N. Andover, Mass.) would convert on a penalty kick knotting the game at 1-1.
The Leopard offense would explode scoring three goals in a five minute span jumping ahead of the Pilgrims 4-1. Wentworth’s Jon Geleski (Wayne, N.J.) would record his first goal of the season putting in a loose ball at the 67:44 mark. Wentworth’s Nick Brown (Somerset, Mass.) and Dan Santacroce (Northfield, Conn.) would then team up to assist a goal by Devin Richard (Smithfield, R.I.) just over two minutes later. Deschene would then cap the scoring off netting a goal on a Wentworth penalty kick in the 71st minute.
The Pilgrims would get a goal back at the 72:33 mark as Diego Saldeno (Caracas, Ven.) would net his first goal of the season off a free kick from Scott Ryan (Pelham, N.H.)
Wentworth would respond as Anthony Berntsen (Portland, Maine) would put in a free kick with just under four minutes remaining in regulation helping to lift the Leopards to the 5-2 victory.
Picking up the win in net for Wentworth was Brian Pearsall (Sanford, Maine) who finished with four saves. In net for NEC was Pat Harkin who also recorded four saves on the afternoon.
NEC will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 10 when they host conference opponent University of New England at 2:30 p.m. Wentworth will travel to take on conference opponent Western New England College Saturday, Oct. 10 at 11:00 a.m.
