Boxscore

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Junior defender Ancil Farrier (Los Bajos, Trinidad) scored two goals and recorded an assist on Saturday night to lead the Southern Connecticut State University men's soccer team to a 4-2 victory over Bryant in a Northeast-10 Conference contest at Jess Dow Field. Mike Gargiulo picked up two assists for Bryant in defeat.

With the win and a tie by Merrimack against Massachusetts-Lowell, SCSU is guaranteed a home game in the first round of the 2007 Northeast-10 Conference Championships, scheduled for Oct. 28. The Owls improve to 10-2-3 (8-1-2 NE-10) with the victory while Bryant falls to (9-6-0, 5-6-0 NE-10).

The Owls opened the scoring in the 13th minute. Farrier served a ball towards the penalty area from just on the Bryan side of midfield. Near the top of the 18-yard box, freshman midfielder Brandin McClay (East Taunton, Mass.) jumped up, got his head to the ball and was able to re-direct it beyond the reach of Bryant goalkeeper Thomas Madden to give SCSU a 1-0 lead.

Farrier would strike just 6:49 later for his first of two tallies in the opening half. In the 20th minute, Farrier took the ball one-on-one against a Bryant defender through the left side of the penalty area. From about 15 yards away, he lined a shot to the far corner of the net; just beyond a diving Madden to give extend the Owls lead to 2-0.

Later, in the 35th minute, Farrier would strike again, this time for his team-leading seventh goal of the season. Sophomore Michael Dibartolomeo (Wallingford, Conn.) took a corner kick from the left corner and it landed right at the feet of Farrier in front of the Bryant net. Farrier knocked it home for his second goal of the game and a 3-0 SCSU lead.

Bryant would get a goal back with 4:59 to play in the first half. Out of a scramble in the middle of the penalty area, Mike Gargiulo was able to poke the ball loose to a wide open Matthew Brown in the left side of the box. Brown rifled it home to cut the SCSU lead to 3-1 as the teams headed to the locker room. The Owls held a 5-4 shots advantage headed into the halftime break.

The Bulldogs pulled to within a goal just 3:12 into the second half. Again Gargiulo picked up an assist as he fed the ball into the box from the right side. Manny Rodriguez was waiting for it at the left post and headed it in to cut the deficit to 3-2.

In the 71st minute, Bryant momentarily appeared to have tied the game when the ball was knocked into the goal off a corner kick taken by Sean Kaukas. However, it was ruled the ball was deflected in with a handball and the goal was disallowed.

Junior midfielder Djordje Jankovic (Sabac, Serbia) put the game on ice for the Owls when he scored his second goal of the season with 37.4 seconds remaining on the clock. Senior forward Larry Yeboah (Worcester, Mass.) crossed the ball from the left side and found Jankovic in the center of the penalty area. Jankovic headed it past Madden to create the 4-2 final score. Bryant held a 6-5 shots advantage in the second half and each team finished with 10 shots in the full 90 minutes.

Senior goalkeeper Brendan Lawless (Orleans, Mass.) made zero saves in net while he earned the victory for SCSU. Madden made one save in front of the Bryant goal in defeat.

The Owls return to action on Wednesday, October 17 when they visit current Northeast-10 leader Franklin Pierce. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Sodexho Field in Rindge, N.H.