The Spartan men’s soccer team suffered its first North Atlantic Conference defeat at the hands of Husson University with a score of 1-0 Sunday, Oct. 12, in Maine. The only goal of the game came in the 18th minute of play, when Jeff Truchon beat a Spartan defender and blasted a shot past keeper Mike Anthony.

Senior forward Ryan Hahn said that his Spartan team isn’t convinced that Husson won the game.

“Credit to Husson, who played a great game, but I know that our team feels that we lost that game rather than they won it,” Hahn said.

Head coach John Werner agreed that his team didn’t play their best.

“We did not play well in the first half, credit to Husson, but really turned it around in the second half,” he said.

Anthony recorded seven saves in the loss for the 7-7 Spartans.

The day before, the Spartans kicked off their two-game trip to Maine with a 4-0 win against NAC opponent Maine Maritime.

The Spartans took offensive control early as Hahn scored in the 20th minute of play off of a pass from Greg Klopfer.

Nick Bellizzi, a defender, picked up his first collegiate goal in the 41st minute as he made a run from the backfield, received the ball from Chris Mulholland, and “buried it,” according to Werner.

“It’s exciting for him, for sure. He is such a hard-nosed defender that it was nice to see him get a goal himself,” Werner said.

Josh Costa and Klopfer added goals of their own to the Spartan victory in the second half.

The Spartan team outshot the Mariners 30-7 in the game.

Werner was impressed with the way the game progressed.

“[Four different people scoring] illustrates how well we played. All four [goals] were beauties,” said Werner. “It was a great performance, perhaps as well as we have played this year.”

The Spartans will next be in action on Oct. 18 at Green Mountain in a NAC game.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

The Lady Spartan Soccer team was defeated 2-1 by North Atlantic Conference rival Husson University Sunday, Oct. 12, in Maine.

The Spartans and Eagles both entered the match undefeated in NAC play.

The first half of the game was a defensive battle. Spartan keeper Nakita Baldic collected nine first-half saves, while the Eagles’ keeper, Tatyana Wolterbeek, collected four.

In the 66th minute of play, though, the Eagles finally broke the Spartan defense.

The Eagles’ Megan Clement sent a rocket of a shot at Baldic, who blocked it, knocking it into the goal post. The ball deflected off of the post right into the path of Megan LaJoie, who fired a shot into the Spartan net.

Clement struck again just five minutes later as she found the back of the net with a shot of her own.

Spartan forward Kelly Gerken put the Spartans back in the game just three minutes later,when she headed a Courtney Chadburn corner kick past Wolterbeek.

“Our team played with a lot of heart. We had opportunities in the beginning of the game that just didn’t work out for us,” said Carisa Chadburn. “I think this game was one of our better games work rate wise. We worked hard and came together as a team.”

The previous day, the Lady Spartans returned from vacation and defeated Maine Maritime 3-0 in NAC play.

The Spartans controlled the tempo of the game throughout, outshooting the Mariners 20-4.

Maria Arnot scored two goals for the Spartans, the first of which came just 44 seconds into the beginning of the game. Chadburn also netted a goal for the Spartans in the win.

“After scoring my first goal, I was so excited because this was a big weekend for us,” Arnot said. “It was so early in the game and that is always important when playing soccer.”

“Maria Arnot and Courtney’s play up front started off the game in an excellent way scoring just 40 seconds into the game,” said Carisa Chadburn. “Both Maria and Courtney have made great strides in their chemistry and play together.”

Baldic was credited with the shutout, but no shots on net were taken by the Mariners.

The Spartans will next be in action on Oct. 18 at Green Mountain in a NAC game.