BIDDEFORD, Maine -- A denial of a Bruno Correia penalty kick by first-year goalkeeper
George Nassar with only 55 seconds remaining preserved a thrilling 1-0 non-conference road win at the University of New England as Bates College men's soccer improves to a perfect 3-0 on the year.
Nassar has yet to yield a single goal over his first 270:00 collegiate minutes, as the native of Newtonville, Mass. has collected shutouts vs. Saint Joseph's College (3-0), Trinity College (2-0), and now UNE to start the season.
The contest remained scoreless until the 59th minute (58:09) when
Tife Agunloye found the back of the net for the third time in three overall outings.
Simon Clarke halted a UNE push by intercepting the ball atop the Nor'easter zone and dished it ahead to
Wilson Smith, who proceeded to one-touch a pass to the boot of Agunloye. The senior then put on a couple of moves before screaming a shot into the lower right of the UNE frame.
Moving forward to the dramatic final minute, Correia hopped, skipped, and jumped in an attempt to distract Nassar before sending a smash to the netminder's right. Nassar pushed away the blast before
Noah Greiff furiously cleared the subsequent rebound out of play.
Nassar (3-0) collected three overall saves in the triumph. The Bobcats dominated the shot column, 20-6, with a 7-3 surplus on goal. UNE drops to 1-3-1 with the setback.
Bates returns to campus for its next action, a 12:00 p.m. non-conference contest vs. Emerson College this Saturday on Garcelon Field.
