WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State freshman midfielder Sinha Kunphel (Nauset/South Yarmouth, Mass.) scored a pair of goals to lead the Owls to a 3-2 MASCAC men's soccer win over the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on Saturday at Alumni Field.
Kunphel put the Owls on the board first, 11 minutes into the match, as he received a throw-in from Brodie Keene (Agawam, Mass.), then blasted a shot to the left upper 90 from 20 yards out for a 1-0 lead. The goal was the first of Kunphel's collegiate career.
Westfield tacked on a second goal in the 21st minute, as Paul Soucy (Old Colony/Achusnet, Mass.) finshed from near the penalty spot after solid passing build up from Dave Serafino (Ludlow, Mass.) and Ryan Morais (Uxbridge, Mass.), who earned assists on the play for a 2-0 Owls lead.
MCLA responded to the deficit, trimming the lead to 2-1 with 13:44 left in the half, as Garrett Derosia (Mount Anthony Union / Berlin, NY) ran on to a loose ball down the right side, beat an Owls defender and blasted an inswinging shot to the far post for the goal.
Westfield grabbed a 3-1 lead just 1:35 into the second half, as the Owls were awarded a free kick. Kunphel set the ball for play and then caught the Trailblazers defense unprepared with a quick shot to the far post from the top of the 18 for his second goal of the day.
Derosia added his second goal less than 3 minutes later, as the Trailblazers had a free kick near midfield that was launched to the top of the penalty area, where it deflected off a pair of Owls defenders, right to Derosia, who finalized to cut the lead to 3-2.
From there, the two teams traded more cautions than scoring opportunities for the 3-2 final.
Tyler Diotalevi (Ludlow, Mass.) finished with three saves for the Owls, who out-shot the Trailblazers 25-12 in the match. Sean Bradshaw (Shenendehowa East/Halfmoon, N.Y.) and Aaron Smith (Liverpool, N.Y.) split the game in goal for the Trailblazers.
Westfield improves to 1-0-1 in the MASCAC and 2-4-1 overall. MCLA falls to 0-2 in the MASCAC and 0-6-1 overall.
The Owls will be idle until next Saturday, when they travel to Worcester State for a conference match.