WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Justin Breedlove (Ellicott City, Md. /Centennial) scored the lone goal of the match as Springfield College squeezed out a 1-0 win over Westfield State University in the Owls home opener at Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon.
Breedlove scored on the remnant of a corner kick, as Dixon's serve rattled off of several players, before deflecting off of Joseph Olaynack's (Middletown, R.I. /Cushing Academy) back, directly to the foot of Breedlove, who found the left side of the net for the goal in the 78th minute.
Springfield improved to 3-1 with the win, while Westfield drops to 1-2.
The match was hard fought and physically played. The Pride had the better run of play for the first half, out-shooting the Owls 13-4 in the opening 45 minutes, but the match tightened in the later stages of the first half and throughout the second.
The Owls made a few pushes to tally in the latter stages of the match. In the 65th minute, Luis Nieves (Agawam, Ma. /Agawam) fired a shot from the right side of the box that was denied by goalkeeper Stewart Frank (Pittsford, N.Y./Mendon). Moments later Brodie Keene (Agawam, Ma. /Agawam) had a volley from a corner kick just sail wide off of the left post, but the Owls failed to break through.
Springfield finished with a 19-9 advantage in total shots and a 9-4 margin in shots on goal. The Pride managed three corner kicks to Westfield's one.
Tyler Diotalevi (Ludlow, Ma. /Ludlow) made eight saves in goal for Westfield, while Frank made four saves to earn the shutout for Springfield.
Westfield will be back in action midweek, traveling to Western New England on Wednesday for a 4:00 p.m. match.
Springfield will host Stevens College tomorrow (9/9) in a quick turn-around beginning at 3:30 p.m.