Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's soccer team picked up a crucial three points with a 2-1 victory over Mount Ida College on Wednesday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) matchup at Howard Field.
Junior Anthony Amell (Northfield, Vt.) and sophomore Derek Morin (South Paris, Maine) each scored a goal to the lead the Cadets to the win that vaulted them up into a tie for third-place in the GNAC standings with defending league champion St. Joseph's (Maine).
Morin picked the perfect time to score his first goal of the season as he broke a 1-1 tie in the 64th minute in what proved to be the eventual game-winning goal. With the victory, Norwich broke a two-game conference losing skid while improving to 9-5-1 overall and 5-3-1 in GNAC play.
Morin scored off a loose ball in the penalty box that was flicked in by Billy Flanagan (Oxford, N.Y.) off a throw in from Mike Ravenelle (Merrimack, N.H.).
The Cadets were able to fend off the Mustangs over the remaining 26 minutes, including surviving an unsettled situation in the last 20 seconds of the match. Mount Ida (6-8-1, 4-5-0 GNAC) had a few chances at a loose ball in a scrum in front of the Norwich net that no one was able to get a solid foot on before NU sophomore keeper Greg Payne (State College, Pa.) finally scooped up the ball to end the chance.
Payne booted the ball to midfield and Mount Ida was never able to mount another scoring chance before the final horn blew.
Amell opened the scoring in the 30th minute when he one-touched home a crossing pass from the left from Ryan Curley (East Haddam, Conn.) into the left corner of the net to give Norwich a 1-0 lead.
The lead would be short lived though as Mount Ida answered back less than a minute later when Dishawn Miller scored off a free kick from Carlos Rojas. Miller got a foot on Rojas' service and the ball pin balled in the Norwich penalty area off a few players before finding its way into the left corner of the net leaving Payne no chance.
Payne made one save on the day to pick up the victory and improve to 5-3-1 on the year. Mount Ida's Matt Pils made five saves in the loss for the Mustangs.
The Cadets close out the regular season on Saturday when they host Johnson & Wales at 1 p.m. at Howard Field. The match will also serve as the 2012 Senior Day where Norwich will honor its three seniors Mike Ravenelle, Colin Pope and Garrett Shufelt. JWU is just one point behind Norwich in the GNAC standings and has a game in hand. A win by NU locks up a GNAC first round home match.
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