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Men's Soccer

Men’s Soccer closes out regular season with road win at Gordon

Box Score WENHAM, Mass. — The Roger Williams University Men's Soccer team downed Gordon College 3-2 on Tuesday night at the Brigham Athletic Complex.  The win clinches a home playoff game for the Hawks, while Gordon settles for the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament.

Roger Williams forward Tyler Kuchenbecker (Wellesley, Mass.) notched his first career hat trick in the win for RWU. Roger Williams improved to 10-6-2 on the season and 5-3-1 in conference, while Gordon falls to 13-4-1 and 6-2-1 in the CCC. The Hawks will await the result of tomorrow's Western New England-Salve Regina game to determine if they will be the third or fourth seed in the tournament.

Tuesday's game bared an eerie similarity to the Scots first CCC loss at home against Nichols three weeks ago. The Fighting Scots controlled the pace of the game and frustrated the Hawks with quick passes in the midfield. Gordon kept the ball in its offensive half for much of the first 20 minutes, racking up four shots in the process. Roger Williams' keeper Tom Mangels (Garden City, N.Y.) stopped two shots by Caleb Cole (Coatesville, Pa.) and two other shots sailed high for the Scots.

Roger Williams' chances on the day were few and far between, with their first chance not coming until the 20th minute, a shot wide by Andrew Carlson (Ridgefield, Conn.). However, the Hawks managed to capitalize on their first clean look of the game in the 24th minute. Kuchenbecker got a throughball to the left side of the 18-yard box and slid a ball on the ground past Josh Spoonhour (Greencastle, Pa.) to the left corner of goal for the score.

The Hawks wouldn't have another shot on goal in the half. Despite outshooting the Hawks 10-3 in the first period and 4-1 on goal, Gordon found themselves trailing 1-0 at halftime.

Kuchenbecker continued his sneaky ways on the right side at the beginning of the second half, with a wide-open tally in the 51st minute. Roger Williams got a midfielder loose on the left side and he bounced a cross to Kuchenbecker, who was curiously unmarked on the right side. The freshman took one touch and blasted a shot over the approaching Spoonhour for a 2-0 lead.

Gordon got one back just five minutes later on a free-kick chance. Cole was fouled just outside the 18-yard box on the right side of the field. The leading goal scorer in the CCC took the kick bent a kick around the wall just inside the left post.

The Fighting Scots kept knocking at the door for the equalizer, but a few near misses led way to a counter by the Hawks. Kuchenbecker took a ball from the right hash and cut back to his left just 15-yards from goal. He was somehow able to sneak a shot on the ground past three Gordon defenders and Spoonhour, just inside the post for his trifecta.

Nathan Bilbie (Shrewsbury, Pa.) attempted to jump start Gordon's offense in the 76th minute by winning a 50-50 ball at the half circle just outside of the 18-yard box. Bilbie came flying in for the sky-high loose ball and caught enough of it with his shoulder to send it over the head of Mangels.

Gordon had one last attempt in the closing minute, but Aaron Terjanian's strike just under the crossbar was deflected out of danger by Mangels. The Hawks' goalkeeper came up with nine saves on the evening with win his 10th of the season. Spoonhour did not register a save in the loss.

Gordon dominated time of possession and shot counts, 22-6 in total shots and 11-3 in shots on target. Roger Williams scored on all three of their shots on goal.

Both teams await the verdict of tomorrow's CCC regular season finale for the final seeding for Saturday's first round.

- Release courtesy of the Gordon College Sports Information Department

 
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Players Mentioned

Andrew Carlson

#11 Andrew Carlson

F
5' 11"
Senior
Tom Mangels

#01 Tom Mangels

GK
6' 2"
Senior
Tyler Kuchenbecker

#24 Tyler Kuchenbecker

F
5' 11"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Andrew Carlson

#11 Andrew Carlson

5' 11"
Senior
F
Tom Mangels

#01 Tom Mangels

6' 2"
Senior
GK
Tyler Kuchenbecker

#24 Tyler Kuchenbecker

5' 11"
Freshman
F