NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The MCLA men's soccer rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat the visiting Fitchburg State Falcons, 2-1, Saturday afternoon at Shewcraft Field to earn a key MASCAC victory and clinch a playoff berth in the process.

 

MCLA is now 4-8-2 overall and stands at 3-3 in league play. The Falcons drop to 5-10 overall and are now just 1-5 in league play.

 

Fitchburg led 1-0 at halftime thanks to Frank Wansi's goal in the first half. MCLA didn't take long as the second half began to even things up when senior Ryan Baker tallied his first goal of the season in the 49th minute. Following a Fitchburg foul, MCLA had a free kick just past midfield. Tyler Vona sent the free kick heading toward Falcon keeper Alex Alzaibek. Alzaibek tried to make the catch in traffic, however the loose ball bounced right to Baker who headed it home to tie things up at 1-1 with 41 minutes to play.

 

In the 84th minute, MCLA would net the game-winner. Anthony Basile took control of the ball around midfield and slid a through ball perfectly to a streaking Dylan Pereira towards the left post. Pereira outran Alzaibek to the ball and even though he had a tough angle, he knocked it home giving MCLA the 2-1 advantage with just six minutes to play.

 

Kamron Anderson stopped eight shots to record his fourth win of the season. 

 

The Trailblazers are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Albertus Magnus.

 

WOMEN'S SOCCER

FITCHBURG, Mass. -- Jackie Dwyer scored in the 71st minute to give the MCLA women's soccer team a 1-1 tie with Fitchburg State on Saturday.

 

Kathryn Daly stopped 13 shots for MCLA (3-10-1, 1-4-1 MASCAC). The Trailblazers travel to Rivier on Tuesday.

 

VOLLEYBALL

DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- The MCLA volleyball team earned its 20th win of the season by defeating UMass Dartmouth, 3-0, in the nightcap of a tri-match on Saturday.

 

The Trailblazers (20-9) fell to Plymouth State, 3-0, earlier in the day.

 

MCLA defeated host UMD by set scores of 25-19, 25-19, and closed them out with a hard fought 28-26 win.  

 

Allison Clark led MCLA with 13 kills. Rachel Mills added 7 kills in the victory. Courtney Parent had a team best 18 assists while Brittney Pihl ended with 25 digs. Angelica Perfido added 12 digs and Mills had 11.

 

For UMD, they were paced by Kayla Kirby's 12 digs.

 

In the opener, Plymouth State swept MCLA by scores of 25-15, 25-16, and 25-19. Mills and Samantha Anderson led the Trailblazers with seven kills each. Taylor Wiese finished with 10 assists in the loss.  

 

Plymouth was paced by Dani Tabor's match high 12 kills.

 

The Trailblazers will face Cobleskill on Tuesday night before hosting Bridgewater State on Saturday on senior day.