By Adam Levine Asst. Sports Editor
The Framingham State Rams were defeated by the Bridgewater State Bears in penalty shootouts after a match that lasted for 110 minutes Nov. 4.
Framingham State attempted 25 shots and took eight corner kicks. The Bears only tallied 17 total shots and had two corner kick opportunities.
Bridgewater State had a strong offensive start, but two offside calls prevented them from taking any shots. At 9:47, Bears’ Ethan Lofontant’s shot was saved by Rams’ senior goalkeeper James Hartshorn.
Bridgewater State committed a foul that gave Rams’ graduate student Bryce Nardizzi a penalty kick opportunity. He was able to score and Framigham took an early 1-0 lead over Bridgewater at 11:11.
The players’ aggression was evident the entire match. At 11:43, Bears’ Jacob Ramos received a yellow card. At 13:11, Rams’ sophomore defender Michael Champagne received a yellow card.
After Hartshorn saved a Bears’ shot attempt, Rams’ senior Jared Nardizzi took a shot on the Bears’ net that missed wide.
Bridgewater attempted three shots in three minutes. Hartshorn saved the first two, but Bridgewater’s third attempt led to their first goal. At 18:44, Lafontant was assisted by teammates Carsten Boloz and Gavin Norton to tie the match 1-1.
The half continued with the two teams trading off on possessions and shots.
At 25:35, Bears’ Ethan DeMelo received a yellow card.
Framingham attempted two corner kicks that led to two shot attempts on the Bears’ net. Bridgewater attempted a corner kick with less than 5 minutes remaining in the half, which led to an unsuccessful shot on the Rams’ net.
The first half ended with the score tied 1-1.
In the first 10 minutes of the second half, four different Rams’ players tallied a combined seven shot attempts. During Framingham’s attack, Bears’ Will Halben took a shot on Hartshorn.
All eight of these shots, on both sides of the field, were unsuccessful.
Rams’ sophomore defender Lachlan Forgan took back-to-back corner kicks. Neither attempt was directly followed by a Framingham shot attempt, but the Rams continued their offensive strike.
Framingham’s offense did not let up until the 77:32 mark. During this time, Framingham had one corner kick opportunity and launched seven shots on Bridgewater’s net.
Bridgewater attempted one corner kick and two shots with less than 13 minutes left of regulation time. Both teams traded shot attempts as the end of regulation time inched closer. The Bears’ Norton closed out regulation time by receiving a yellow card.
The first 10-minute overtime was not enough time for a winner to emerge. Each team only took one shot, and, at 97:39, Bears’ Justin Silva received a yellow card.
The second 10-minute overtime allowed both teams to take more shots, but the match remained scoreless. The Bears’ David Nelson and Rams’ Jared Nardizzi both received yellow cards.
Bridgewater and Framigham alternated five shot attempts during penalty shootouts. Framingham’s first four shots were successful, but Bridgewater made all five attempts to secure their victory.
The Rams’ senior defender Brian Sullivan reflected on the season, saying, “Especially today, we showed that we really put in the effort this whole season.”
Although the Rams’ season concluded, Sullivan said, “We definitely put the pieces of the puzzle together at the end.”