Jack Blatchford
Jack Blatchford

Stonehill Stymies Bentley 1-0

EASTON, Mass. – Stonehill's Drew Montano scored in the 13th minute, and the Skyhawks held on the rest of the way to pick up a 1-0 win over Bentley University in Northeast-10 men's soccer Wednesday night.

Stonehill (4-2-1, 2-1) earns its second win in three matches, while Bentley (2-4-1, 1-2-1) has its two-match unbeaten streak snapped.

Bentley started out on the offensive with a shot on goal by forward Lucas Pagano (Miami, Fla.) just 21 seconds in that was saved by Stonehill goalie Adam Colella, and was also cleared off the line by midfielder Richard Aprile to prevent a goal.

In the eighth minute, a shot by Bentley's Marty Ryan (Albany, N.Y.) forced Colella to make a diving save after a missed clearance by the Stonehill defense.

But the match turned in the 13th minute after a Bentley foul in the box gave Stonehill a penalty kick, which was taken senior Ben Zandonella. Falcons goalie Jack Blatchford (Douglas, N.Y.) came up with the save, but Montano pounced on the rebound to give the Skyhawks a 1-0 lead.

Stonehill had the next, closest opportunity of the first half when a shot by midfielder Tyler Brondyk hit the crossbar in the 35th minute.

Bentley came close to an equalizer in the 67th minute when a header by sophomore Brett Ripperger (Westfield, N.J.) off a free kick was saved by Colella. Stonehill nearly made it 2-0 in the 72nd minute when a header by Brondyk off a cross was stopped by a diving save by Blatchford.

Junior Nico Ucros (Guatemala City, Guatemala) had a shot on goal saved by Colella in the 77th minute, but that was Bentley's last shot on goal.

The Falcons will look to get back in the win column on Saturday morning when they host Le Moyne at 11:00 am as part of Homecoming Day.