Engineers Ease Past Emmanuel, Improve to 5-1 in New England

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Six first-half goals helped lift the MIT men’s soccer team to a 9-2 victory over Emmanuel College in a non-conference contest on Monday. The Engineers (5-2) saw six different players find the back of the net as Zachary Kabelac and Christian Therkelsen led the way with two goals and an assist apiece.

MIT opened the scoring after 7:16 elapsed in the contest. Ben Lewis sent a pass to Kabelac whose initial touch was stopped by Saints’ netminder Carlos Perez at the top of the box. However, the ball came loose and Kabelac chased it down, sending a shot to the lower left corner of the empty net. Just over a minute later, Kevin Chou stole the ball at midfield and passed it over the top which was collected by Therkelsen who gave the hosts a 2-0 lead.

Emmanuel (1-5) withstood a flurry of close-range shots, but its defense could not deny the Engineers their third goal of the day. A cross from Therkelsen sailed over the box where Kabelac sent a strike to the lower left corner in the 13th minute. The Therkelsen-Kabelac tandem notched its final points with 19:36 remaining in the half when Kabelac sent a throughball to Therkelsen. Exactly 22 seconds later, Chris Hammond sent a blast from the top of the box to put MIT up, 5-0. The Cardinal and Gray’s final goal of the period came in the 30th minute when Hammond converted a feed from Thomas Fronk.

The Saints continued to attack, eventually ending the shutout with 4:46 left in the frame. Receiving a free kick from just over 20 yards out, Byron Glaus directed the ball into the box which was headed by Dan D’Amato to the left corner of the net.

MIT extended its advantage to 7-1 in the 55th minute. Edner Paul sent a throughball along the near sideline, which Lance Wall curved to the lower left corner for his first goal of the season. Emmanuel countered with what proved to be its final goal of the day in the 64th minute. Jeremy Scanlon quickly dished the ball off to Matthew Koenemann whose shot slipped through goalie Ernesto Reza-Garduno’s hands for his first marker of the year. The Engineers tacked on two more goals with Paul being a factor in both tallies. He first set up Thomas Fronk in the 70th minute before recording an unassisted effort in the 75th minute.

In net, Dylan Rankin posted one save in 29 minutes of action for MIT. Javier Duarte closed out the frame while Reza-Garduno notched three saves in the second half. Perez totaled three saves in the first half for the Saints as Patrick Froass collected five saves in the second stanza.

Both squads continue non-conference play on Wednesday, Sept. 23. MIT will travel to Brandeis University while Emmanuel will host Curry College.