Southern Maine Downs Colby-Sawyer 2-1
Men’s College Soccer

August 30, 2008

BABSON PARK, Mass. -- Senior Ben Slagle (Scarborough, Maine) scored the game-winning goal with 8:33 left in regulation to lift the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a thrilling, 2-1 victory over the Colby-Sawyer College Chargers in the first round of the 2008 Babson Soccer Classic on Saturday afternoon. It was the first contest of the season for both squads.

Colby-Sawyer grabbed the lead midway through the first half, as senior Doug Currie (Harvard, Mass.) took a breakaway feed from sophomore Doug McLaughlin (Derry, N.H.) on the right side and beat USM junior goalie David Kreps (Agawam, Mass.) for a 1-0 advantage .

Southern Maine answered with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half as junior Peter McHugh (Portland, Maine) headed in a nice cross from classmate Matt Dawes (Sidney, Maine) at 37:17 to even the score at 1-1.

Things stayed that way until late in the second half, when McHugh found Slagle at the top of the box. The senior midfielder then turned and ripped a beautiful bending shot past the outstretched hands of junior keeper Chris Feltes (Manchester, N.H.) into the upper right corner, giving the Huskies a 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish.

Kreps stopped two shots in net for USM before leaving the game with an injury with 20 minutes left in the second. Junior Steve May (Brunswick, Maine) came on in relief and did not face a shot on net as he earned his first win of the season.

Feltes was absolutely magnificent in defeat for Colby-Sawyer, finishing with 16 saves, including several on one-on-one breaks. His finest effort came at the 23-minute mark, when he came charging out of net to make a tremendous stop on a Chris Gassman (Kennebunk, Maine) shot. Gassman then managed to deflect a defender's attempted clear back toward the net, but Feltes raced back to the line and made a diving bid to clear it just outside the left post.

Both teams return to action Sunday for day two of the Babson Classic. Colby-Sawyer takes on host Babson at 1:00 p.m., while USM will match up against Wentworth at 3:30 p.m. Babson downed Wentworth 3-0 in the opening game Saturday.