JOHNSON, Vt. – Johnson State College men's soccer took a 1-0 into the half but visiting Castleton State College scored a pair of second half goals to earn a 2-1 North Atlantic Conference men's soccer victory on Wednesday afternoon at Minaert Field. Johnson slides to 1-15, 0-8 NAC and the Spartans improve to 10-6, 4-4 NAC.
Johnson sophomore Drew Steady (Milton, Vt./Milton) (pictured) scored an unassisted goal in the 40th minute to give the Badgers the early lead. Steady made a nice individual move to the left side and drilled a shot with left foot to the far post by Castleton keeper Nate Koenemann (Montpelier, Vt./Montpelier) for the goal.
Castleton would net the equalizer just 3:54 into the second half when freshman Eric Cross (Morrisville, Vt./Peoples) floated a pass into the box that Johnson keeper Ryan Belen (Northvale, N.J./Northern Valley) attempted to coral in traffic but was twisted around and the ball trickled out to an open Bryce Kaler (Burnt Hills, N.Y./Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) who knocked it home for the score.
The Spartans would receive the game-winner courtesy of a Trevor Kotrady (North Clarendon, Vt./Mill River) who stole a Johnson pass, made a nice move up the left side and beat Belen to far post, nearly replicating the match's first goal by Steady.
Belen was outstanding for Johnson throughout the contest making 12 saves while Koenemann recorded five stops for Castleton.
Johnson will play their final regular-season home game on Saturday at 1:00 pm when the Badgers face the University of Maine-Farmington. Castleton will move on to host Colby-Sawyer College on 6:30 pm on Tuesday, October 23.