SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--The American International College men's soccer team scored another late winner thanks to senior forward Alec Cerquiera (Peabody, Mass.), toppling the rival Saint Anselm Hawks from the ranks of the undefeated with a 2-1 victory at Ronald J. Abdow Field.

AIC now stands at 3-2-0 on the year, with a 1-1-0 Northeast-10 Conference record.

After a scoreless first half, the offense for AIC thought they had a goal in the sixty-sixth minute on a two-on-none break, but the play was ruled offsides; under a minute later, however, the team scored one that counted as senior midfielder Jason Burnusuz (Westfield, Mass.) broke in down the middle and fired a right-footed shot underneath the Hawks goalkeeper at 66:28 to make it 1-0.

However, the Hawks did not go quietly, equalizing the game off of a foul as junior forward Zachary Heckt (South Windsor, Conn.) scored from near the top right corner of the box with a shot through a screen into the low left corner of the net at 75:57.

The Yellow Jackets turned up their play to another level after conceding the tying tally, and senior midfielder Frazer Cronin (Bromley, England) fed a through pass in the middle of the box to a streaking Cerquiera, who deposited the game-winning marker at 83:26.

The Hawks had a last chance to equalize again on a free kick in the final twenty seconds, but junior goalkeeper Sebastian Tamayo (Stratford, Conn.) swallowed it up, one of his seven saves in the victory; his counterpart, junior Stephen McLeod (Chelmsford, Mass.) had nine saves in the defeat.

AIC continues the season Wednesday when they host the Franklin Pierce Ravens in another NE-10 contest, set to start at 7:00 p.m.