EASTON, Mass. (October 20, 2024) – Stonehill men's soccer erased a three-goal, first-half deficit at W.B. Mason Stadium Sunday afternoon in a Northeast Conference matchup, tying Mercyhurst University, 3-3.

Highlights 

• Senior Colin Milliken (Easton, Mass.) had his first two-goal game since his Skyhawk debut on Aug. 24, 2023, against La Salle. Milliken leads the Skyhawks with six goals this season while being tied for third in the NEC.
• Freshman James Forrest-Hay (Newburyport, Mass.) scored his first career goal to tie the game and complete the Skyhawks' three-goal comeback in the 87th minute.
• Junior Owen Burke (Holliston, Mass.) and freshman Julius Maiwaldt (Hamburg, Germany) each tallied their third assists of the season to tie a team lead.
• Junior Colin Hargraves (Fall River, Mass.) notched his second assist of the season and his first since Stonehill's 3-2 win over Fairfield on Sept. 4.
• Junior Ryan Claffey (Colchester, Conn.) got his fifth start of the season in net as he now has a 1-2-2 record. He stopped a career-high six shots on goal in the tie.
• Mercyhurst's Alvar Silvar netted the game's opening goal and added an assist later in the first half to tally three points in the draw.
• Carver Tierney scored his first goal of the season while Luis Felipe Santos recorded his third of the season for the Lakers.
• Mercyhurst goalie Danilo Abayo is now 6-4-1 on the year.

How it Happened 
Mercyhurst's Dylan Sumner made a strong rush through the middle of the pitch, sending a pass toward a sprinting Alvar Silvar whose right-footed shot went across his body, sneaking into the back of the net to give the Lakers a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.
 
The Lakers had an open lane up the middle of the field as Callum Cleary dribbled the ball through the open space, finding Dylan Sumner on the right side who sent a pass to the spinning Carver Tierney before firing a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner of the net as Mercyhurst took a 2-0 lead in the 19th minute.
 
About 30 seconds later, a Skyhawk turnover in their defensive end led to a quick, right-footed strike from Luis Felipe Santos from outside the 18-yard box as Santos lifted the ball into the back of the net.
 
Milliken got the Skyhawks on the board in the 27th minute, trimming their deficit to 3-1 after a no-look pass from Burke to Hargraves led to an open right-footed shot for Milliken that went past the diving Abayo.
 
Despite four goals in the first 27 minutes of action, the two teams went the next 18 scoreless as Mercyhurst held onto its 3-1 lead into the break.
 
A handball in the box by a Laker in the 58th minute led to a penalty kick for the Skyhawks that Milliken blasted into the back right corner of the net to make it a 3-2 game.
 
Claffey made three second-half saves including a big one in the 78th minute as a header from Ben Buckley came his way but Claffey's outstretched right hand sent it over the net to keep the Skyhawks within one.
 
The Skyhawks completed their three-goal comeback in the 87th minute as Maiwaldt crossed the ball toward the 18-yard box where Forrest-Hay outjumped the Laker defenders, getting his head on the ball and redirecting it to the back left corner of the goal to tie things up, 3-3.
 
Claffey made his final save of Sunday's NEC matinee in the 90th minute with just 40 seconds to play to secure a 3-3 draw between the Lakers and Skyhawks.
 
Up Next
Stonehill men's soccer (4-7-3, 1-2-2 NEC) plays its final non-conference game of the season at Harvard University (2-5-4, 1-3-0 Ivy) on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.
 
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