Box Score POULTNEY, Vt. – Matt Kukola's first half marker proved to be the difference in Green Mountain's 1-0 North Atlantic Conference men's soccer win over University of Maine at Farmington on Sunday afternoon at Eagle Game Field.
The first half witnessed a flurry of offensive chances for both sides as the teams combined for 23 shots in all. Only one of those shots found the back of the net as Kukola put Green Mountain (3-7-0 overall, 2-3-0 NAC) ahead 1-0 in the 43rd minute. UMF was attempting to clear the ball after the Eagles' previous attack. Kukola stepped in front of the clearing pass through the middle, pushed the ball between two defenders and beat the keeper to the ball. The sophomore then flicked the ball past the outstretched right foot of Beaver keeper Paul Dupre.
The second half was a direct continuation of the opening half with both teams pressing to create scoring opportunities. UMF (1-11-0 overall, 0-6-0 NAC) peppered the Eagle net with strikes, but few found the mark and when they did, GMC keeper Nate Kishbaugh was there to turn them aside. Late in the half he had to make several tough saves including a diving stop on a shot by Ibrahim Achekh when the striker broke in alone down the right side.
"We had a tough break in the first half that put us down, but we kept our heads up and played our best half of soccer," said UMF head men's soccer coach Jon Evan. "The boys really came together and played very, very well. We probably could have scored ten goals in the second half, but their keeper played well and stopped us."
The Beavers outshot the Eagles by a 27 to 16 margin and held the edge in corner kicks seven to three.
Kishbaugh (3-5-0) turned aside ten shots by the Beavers to pick up the win and shutout for the Eagles. Beavers' keeper Dupre (0-6-0) made three saves in the loss.
"This year we've dealt with a lot of injuries, we've overcome a team trying to grow together with our younger guys channeling with our older guys, and we certainly did that today. It was enjoyable to watch our guys play in the second half – the way they fought all the way to the end, and hopefully will continue to do so and grow with that," added Evan.
UMaine-Farmington has a pair of home non-conference matchups this week, hosting Southern Maine on Wednesday followed by UMaine-Machias on Sunday.
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