NEW YORK — A pair of seniors contributed to the scoring on Senior Day, but the Pratt Institute men's soccer team fell 4-2 to Gwynedd Mercy University in an Atlantic East Conference match on Saturday at Randall's Island Park.
Pratt honored its five seniors prior to kickoff — Dylan Costa (Cresskill, N.J.), Griffin Benkovszky (Ashland, Va.), Bryan Hong-Dominguez (San Diego, Calif.), Aditya Shivkumar (Bombay, India), and Vasilis Nikolopoulos (Athens, Greece).
The visiting Griffins (2-13-2, 1-4-1) used a four-goal first half to earn a split of the home-and-home regular-season series with Pratt (3-10-1, 1-5), who earned a 1-0 win in Pennsylvania on Oct. 3.
Gwynedd Mercy opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Jackson Stuetz finished a pass from Luke O'Donnell to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Pratt leveled the contest in the 21st minute. Sophomore forward Lawton Tucker-Ortega (Denver, Colo.) set up Costa on a set piece, who beat the keeper with a volley near the back post for his second goal of the season to tie the match at 1-1.
The Griffins regained control with a three-goals flurry in a five-minute span later in the half. Tony Mendoza put Gwynedd Mercy back in front in the 28th minute. Ryan Burns and Colin Jastremski scored back-to-back tallies in the 33rd minute to extend the margin to 4-1, which they carried into halftime.
The Cannoneers cut into the deficit early in the second half. In the 58th minute, Hong-Dominguez won a ball and fed rookie Pavel Emam (Arlington, Va.), who scored his first collegiate goal to bring Pratt within 4-2.
Pratt pushed for further momentum, getting shots on target from junior Nicco Prada (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) and rookie Lucca Novi (The Woodlands, Texas), but could not draw closer. Sophomore goalkeeper Hayden Pettit (Houston, Texas) turned in seven saves on the night, including four stops in the second half to keep the Griffins off the board after halftime.
Gwynedd Mercy held a 20-8 advantage in total shots, an 11-4 edge in shots on goal and a 13-0 margin in corner kicks.Â
Pratt concludes the regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 28, traveling to face Saint Elizabeth University in an Atlantic East match at 3 p.m.
