Men’s Soccer Sneaks By MIT, 3-2

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – With 31 seconds remaining in regulation, Francisco Valck's header off TJ Maselek's throw-in broke up a tied game and sent Suffolk men's soccer past MIT, 3-2, Wednesday at Roberts Field.   

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | MIT 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (6-2-1) | MIT (3-4-1)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk struck first in the back-and-forth affair. The Rams stormed Lukas Hanson-Puffer with a 3-on-1. Valck's short pass to Diego Pierantozzi caught Hanson-Puffer off guard and the blue-and-gold's sophomore shot into the far-right corner to give the visitors a one-goal edge 36:09 into the contest. 

The Engineers evened matters 2:57 later thanks to Hendrik Mayer's good penalty kick by Hendrik Mayer. 

That 1-all score stood as the teams headed to the locker room.  

The Rams first shot out of the intermission touched the back of the net. Matthew Belluardo used a long throw-in from Tommy Handelsman to score, restoring the Rams advantage in the 54th minute. 

It was a near case of déjà vu as once again MIT responded. This time the equalizer came 3:02 after Suffolk's score. Kaleb Asfaw locked things up at 2-2 with help from Nathan Guntvedt's corner kick. 

As time ticked off the clock both netminders stood up to the challenge to keep things knotted at 2-all. A MIT foul with one-minute left set-up a Suffolk throw in. Maselek lobbed a perfect throw-in to a cluster in front of the Engineers net. Valck leaped to meet the pass and headed the game-winner home at the 89:29 mark. 

KEEPING UP WITH THE KEEPERS

• Harlow had four saves in the victory. 
• Hanson-Puffer notched five stops in the setback.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Valck contributed three points with the game-winning goal and one helper. 
• Pierantozzi and Belluardo scored one goal each. 
• Handelsman and Maselek each dished out one assist. 
• MIT outshot Suffolk, 9-5. 
• The Rams put more shots on target though, 8-6. 
• The Engineers took all three corners in the contest. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk pushed its win streak to four straight, the most wins in a row since rattling off five victories together Sept. 20-Oct. 4, 2006. 
• The Rams have won back-to-back games against MIT for the first time in program history. 
• Suffolk moved to 3-5-1 all-time versus MIT in a series that dates to 1946. 
• The Rams have potted three goals in back-to-back meetings with the Engineers. 
• The three goals scored tie the most in a single game in the all-time series. 
• Suffolk won its first game over the Engineers when playing at MIT. Location of the contests before 2015 were unknown. 
• Suffolk has won three of the last four outings versus MIT. 
• The Rams are 2-1 versus the Engineers under Bill Maddock's guidance. 
• It is the first game between Suffolk and MIT that was not decided via shutout since the first-ever meeting, a 2-2 draw in 1946.  
• Two of Suffolk's triumphs over MIT have come on Sept. 27. The Rams' first-ever win over the Engineers, a 1-0 triumph in 2017, and tonight's 3-2 thriller. 
• Valck produced the first game-winner of his collegiate career. 
• Valck notched a goal and an assist in a game for the second time in his collegiate career. 
• Valck matched a career-high one helper. 
• Pierantozzi has found the back of the net in back-to-back games. He has scored four goals over the last two games. 
• Belluardo logged his third goal of the season. 
• Handelsman handed out his third assist of the year. 
• Maselek recorded his second helper of the campaign. 
• Harlow improved to 4-1-0 on the season.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk treks to Hartford Saturday, Sept. 30 for a 3 p.m. affair.