Men’s Soccer Clinches Home Field, Defeats Rivier, 2-1, on Senior Day

BOSTON – All three goals of the contest were scored over a 1:38 minute span and thankfully it was the Suffolk men's soccer team that put away two in the short time to defeat the Raiders of Rivier, 2-1, Saturday afternoon at James A. Sartori Stadium at East Boston Memorial Park. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 2, Rivier 1
RECORDS: Suffok (8-8, 6-3 GNAC) | Rivier (7-8-1, 3-5-1 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
After a scoreless first frame, which featured hurricane like, sideways rain, the skies cleared for the second 45. The Rams, who outshot the Raiders, 10-6 in the first half, commanded the majority of the offensive possession, but it was the visitors that got on the board first. Less than one minute later Christian Restrepo leveled the playing field and 48 seconds later Alberto Bittan netted the game-winner to push Suffolk to the 2-1 victory. 

GOALS

• From Rivier's own 35-yard line Christopher Buzan cleared the Raiders' zone with a floating pass that found Alex Armstrong. Buzan's kick set up a one-on-one opportunity with Armstrong and the Rams' keeper, Kyle Van Cleef. Armstrong made a move from 20-yards out and Van Cleef's glove tipped the ball, but Armstrong connected again to break open the scoring with his sixth goal of the year at 61:29. 
• The Raiders' lead was short-lived thanks to Restrepo's unassisted strike nearly a minute later. The freshman's fourth goal of the season made it a 1-1 game. 
• Bittan's 15 goal of the season was set up thanks to strategically placed passes from Restrepo and Joel Shulman. The senior tallied the game-winner at 63:07. 

KEEPING UP WITH THE KEEPERS

• Van Cleef got the nod for Suffolk, making four saves and allowing one goal in 83:18 minute sod action en route to his third victory this season. 
• Jon Brodeur saw 6:42 minutes of relief action for the Rams. 
• Collin Deyarmin set aside six Suffolk attempts, but suffered the defeat to move to 6-8-1 on the season. 

SENIOR SEND OFF
Prior to the first kick, Suffolk honored the playing careers of its five graduating players; Bittan, Eric Costantini, Ben Daniels, Aaron Haggas and Alex Ypsilantis. 

NOTEABLES

• Suffolk locked up the most conference wins in a regular season since joining the GNAC in 1999 with a 6-3 record.
• Suffolk clinched home field advantage for the first round of the GNAC playoffs for the first time since the Rams were a three seed in 2009. 
• The Rams' finished their 2016 regular season home slate, 5-5, the best record on Suffolk's own turn since the blue and gold went 6-2 at home in 2012. 
• Bittan notched his fifth game winner of the season, the most by a Ram in recent history.

POST-GAME PIC
  

COMING UP
Suffolk uses a non-conference regular season finale at Dean Tuesday, Oct. 25 to prep for the upcoming GNAC Tournament with first round games slated for Saturday, Oct. 29.