Henniker, NH – New England College men's soccer scored three goals in the opening five minutes of play to lift them past the visiting Nichols College Bison 4-1 Saturday afternoon in Henniker.  The win improves the Pilgrims to 6-3-0 overall and 5-2-0 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC.)   The loss drops the Bison to 3-6-1 overall and 1-4-1 in the TCCC. 

The Pilgrims wouldn't waste much time with Evan Jones (S. Kingstown, R.I.) finding the foot of NEC's leading scorer Jordan Colonese (Guilford, Conn.) just 1:22 into the first half to put the Pilgrims up 1-0. NEC's Rob Kennedy (Lynnfield, Mass.) would make it a two goal game scoring his first goal of the season unassisted under two minutes later.  The Pilgrims would not rest coming right back with James Palumbo (Kingston, N.H.) scoring off a nice pass from Colonese at the five minute mark putting the Pilgrims up 3-0.

The Nichols College defense would settle down keeping the Pilgrims off the board the remainder of the half.  Nichols would add a goal of their own late in the first half with Ryan Johnston (Woodstock, Conn.) converting on a penalty kick to send the game into halftime with the Pilgrims up 3-1.  The Pilgrims would outshoot the Bison 8-1 in the second half and Rob Kennedy would score his second goal of the game at the 47:13 mark as the Pilgrims would go on to capture the 4-1 victory.

Picking up the win in goal for the Pilgrims was Jon Mayo (Merrimack, N.H.) who finished with three saves.  Seeing the bulk of the time in goal for Nichols College was Clayton Johnson (Williamstown, Mass.) who turned away seven Pilgrim shots.

New England College will return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 3 when they host conference opponent Anna Maria College at 4:00 p.m.  Nichols will return to the field on Wednesday, Oct. 3 when they host conference opponent Wentworth Institute of Technology at 4:00 p.m.

Release courtesy of NEC Sports Information