JOHNSON, Vt. – Johnson State College experienced defeat on Saturday falling 2-0 to visiting New England College on a rain-soaked Minaert Field in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) men's soccer action. The Badgers fall to 4-8-1, 1-5 NAC while NEC improves to 6-8-1, 2-3-1 NAC.
The Pilgrims saw Diego Saldeno (Caracas, Venezuela) and James Kiriakos (Needham, Mass.) each score unassisted goals.
NEC keeper Robert Millard (Barrington, R.I.) made five saves en route to the shutout while counterpart Ryan Belen (Northvale, N.J./Northern Valley) recorded nine saves.
Saldeno notched the Pilgrims first goal with just under three minutes left to play in the first half when he dribbled up the middle of the field, beat a pair of JSC defenders and deposited the shot to the lower right corner of the goal making it 1-0.
NEC's second score came in the 73rd minute when defenseman Kiriakos found a loose, bounding ball available at the top of the penalty box and blasted a low shot past Belen to make the 2-0 and providing the final.
Johnson will host Colby-Sawyer at 2 pm on Sunday, Senior Day for the Badgers, in their next contest while NEC travels to play at Lyndon State tomorrow also at 2:00 pm.