MEDFORD, Mass. – The Plymouth State University men's soccer team defeated the Fisher College Falcons, 5-3, at Hormel Stadium on Monday evening.
The Panthers fell behind 1-0 in the first half after Fisher was awarded a penalty, but three goals in the span of five minutes on either side of halftime gave Plymouth State a 3-1 lead early in the second half. The Falcons did not give up, scoring back-to-back goals to tie the game up at 3-3 with 20 minutes to play. Plymouth State had other things in mind, putting away the final two goals to give the Panthers their first victory of the season.
Seven Panthers got on the scoresheet as senior
Aiden Doyle (Barrington, R.I.) opened the night with a goal in the 43rd minute, assisted by freshman
Ariel Membreno (Woburn, Mass). One minute later, sophomore
Nils Skogestig (Saltsjö Boo, Sweden) scored on an assist from classmate
Will Haney (Holbrook, Mass.) to put Plymouth State up 2-1.
Only 92 seconds into the second half, junior
Walter Driscoll (Kittery Point, Maine) increased the advantage (3-1) on an assist from senior
Faisal Abdallah (Pembroke, N.H.). After the Falcons clawed back to tie the game, a second goal by Driscoll just 23 seconds later gave the Panthers a 4-3 lead they would not relinquish again. Junior
Sondre Asheim (Klepp, Norway) assisted on the game winning assist.
Driscoll completed the second half hat trick on a penalty kick in the 87th minute to put the game out of reach.
Plymouth State improves to 1-0-2 on the season, as Fisher falls to 2-1-1.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 5, Fisher 3
- Plymouth State (1-0-2)
- Fisher (2-1-1)
How it Happened:
- Plymouth State started on the front foot, forcing three saves from the Falcons' goalkeeper in the opening 10 minutes.
- Fisher struck first (1-0) on a converted penalty awarded in the 16th minute after a handball was called in the box.
- The Panthers responded just before halftime when Doyle made a hesitation move in the box and buried the ball to the back post to even the score at 1-1 in the 43rd minute.
- Not even leaving enough time for the PA to announce the first goal, Plymouth State came right back and scored its second goal 41 seconds later to take a 2-1 lead at the half.
- Plymouth State wasted no time starting the second half – putting in a third goal 1:12 into the stanza to take a more comfortable lead (3-1).
- The game opened as the Falcons started throwing numbers forward, leading to a second goal in the 69th minute to close the Panthers' advantage 3-2.
- The Fisher momentum continued as the team worked its way back to tie the game at 3-3 in the 72nd minute as the rain started to heavily come down.
- It remained tied for only 23 seconds as Driscoll headed home his second goal of the night off a wonderfully placed free kick from Asheim to put the Panthers back up 4-3.
- Driscoll closed out the scoring, completing his first career hat trick in the 87th minute.
By the Numbers:
- PSU outshot the Falcons 20-18 in the contest.
- The Panthers recorded six corner kicks to Fisher's three.
- Shots on goal were in Plymouth State's favor, 13-5.
- The Panthers' last hat trick was recorded by Abdallah against the same Fisher team last season.
- PSU's last 5-3 victory was in 2013 against Salem State University.
- The Panthers are now 2-0 against the Falcons.
Up Next:
- Plymouth State will play its first Little East Conference (LEC) game on Saturday (Sept. 16) against the Beacons of the University of Massachusetts at Boston. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. at Arold Field.
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