WALTHAM, Massachusetts – The American International College men's soccer team secured a bounce-back win, defeating Bentley University 2-0 in a Northeast-10 Conference battle on Tuesday, October 11.
AIC now stands at 2-5-5 on the season with a 1-3-3 NE10 mark.
The first half seemed destined to end in a 0-0 tie until the last two minutes. Lucas Morales-Fernandes booted a goal kick deep down the field to Christian Amaral, who in turn fed the ball forward to Salim Yussif, who made a run into the box. A Bentley defender threw a shoulder into Yussif, and the referee called for a penalty. Yussif made no mistake with the renewed opportunity, slotting it into the left corner for a 1-0 lead at 43:22.
Emboldened by the lead, AIC took the initiative in the second half, outshooting Bentley 6-1. However, the lone goal for the Yellow Jackets was scored with six seconds to play. The Falcons drew a corner kick with under a minute to play, and pulled everyone upfield, including their goalkeeper. Morales-Fernandes pounced on the ball when it came in and quickly kicked it away to Nicholas Vital across midfield. Vital in turn crossed into the right corner of the box for Amaral, who struck the ball home to close out the game in style with his third of the year at 89:54.
Morales-Fernandes earned the 10th shutout of his career, moving to 2-3-4 on the season with the win.
The Yellow Jackets return home for their Senior Day game on Saturday, October 15 against Saint Anselm. Kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m.
