Men's Soccer drops season opener to St. Joseph (CT) 5-2
Hartford, CT- The University of St. Joseph (CT) Men's Soccer team received a hat trick from Mergim Kutllovci as the Bluejays pulled away to a 5-2 season opening win over the MCLA Trailblazers this evening. Kutllovci scored twice in the opening half, but then netted the game winner in the 67th minute.
USJ is now 1-0 while MCLA drops to 0-1.
The Bluejays jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage behind a pair of goals from Kutllovci in the 9th and 15th minutes to take the early lead. MCLA would chip away however, and when Colin Rousseau scored in the 39th minute, it was 2-1 in favor of USJ. Trailblazers Ryan Wanek and Andrew Nygard combined for the assist. The score would remain that way into halftime.
In the second half, MCLA would pull even when David Jamina booted home a pass from Garrett Derosia in the 61st minute of play to make it 2-2. From there, it was all USJ.
Kutllovci would complete the hat trick just six minutes after Jamina's equalizer to put the hosts up 3-2. USJ would add another tally in the 70th minute and then one in the final seconds to account for the final score.
USJ outshot MCLA 19-7 on the evening and John Griffin was credited with the win as he played the second half for the Bluejays.
MCLA's Sam Edge took the loss in goal as he stopped 7 shots.
The Trailblazers are back in action on Friday when they host their annual tournament.