Box Score WATERVILLE, ME – The Thomas men's soccer team could not hold the lead in the second half and were defeated 2-1 by New England College on Senior Day this afternoon at Smith Field.
With the loss, the Terriers will finish in fourth place in the final North Atlantic Conference standings and will host a playoff game on Saturday, November 1.
Both teams came out aggressive and looking to get an early advantage, but neither could break through for a score.
Near the end of the first half in the 36th minute, the Pilgrims committed a foul in the box that set up Dakota Duplissie for a penalty shot. Duplissie would convert for his NAC-leading 14th goal on the season to give Thomas the first goal of the match and 1-0 lead that would hold into the half.
It was a hotly-contested first half as a total of five yellow cards were handed out, and 11 fouls were commiteed by the two teams.
In the second half, both teams continued to play back and forth as neither could gain a significant advantage. NEC finally broke through in the 64th minute when Rizy Misiri took a pass from teammate Julian Yourawski and put it past Terrier keeper Joakim Sternas to tie the match up at one.
Thomas nearly took the lead back in the 81st minute, Khamisi Lightbourne had a chance for on a header but was denied by Pilgrim keeper Mark Nowak. No more than a minute after that scoring opportunity, the Pilgrims would connect on the eventual game-winner as Sina Samali received the pass from Sebastian Andersson and found the back of the net to put NEC up for good.
The Terriers outshot the Pilgrims 12-10 on the afternoon, but the Pilgrims were able to put seven of those on goal versus only four for the Terriers. Sternas finished with five saves in defeat, while Nowak recorded three for NEC.
The Thomas men's soccer team finishes the regular season out with an overall record of 8-4-3 and a NAC record of 5-2-2. The following four seniors were honored before the match for the career contributions to the program: Dakota Duplissie, Marcus Johnson, Jacob Sirois and Winston Trott.
