Men's Soccer Falls to Gordon, 2-1

WENHAM, Mass. -- Andrew Vandervoort continued his torrid scoring pace by nabbing two goals in the second half, to rally the Gordon College Scots to a 2-1 victory over visiting Bridgewater State.

The senior forward knotted the score at one on a penalty kick, before putting Gordon ahead for good with only six minutes to play in the contest.

Shots on goal were hard to come by in a scoreless first half, as most of the play was kept in the middle of the pitch, as the two teams traded possession. The Scots started slow on the offensive end and the Bears nearly converted on a mistake by Gordon's defense within the first five minutes of the game.

The two best scoring chances of the half were both on Bridgewater State's offensive end of the field. Craig Shadduck and David Wilson each put shots just outside of the net as the Gordon defense scrambled to keep the Bears at bay.

Shadduck led the Bears' attack again at the start of the second half. He launched a shot from 25 yards away, but Tim Hardy was able to get himself in position to make a save. A minute later, Colin Neri had a prime look at the goal, but the shot clipped the heel of one of his teammates and bounced away from the net.

The Bears relentless attack to start the half was finally rewarded in the 55th minute when Jonathan Pires sent a screaming shot on the ground off of a deflection. Pires' boot skirted past Hardy's fingers and into the left side of the net for his second goal in as many games and a 1-0 BSU lead.

Gordon had trailed in a game only once entering the game, but the Scots responded well to the adversity. They countered the goal with pressure back the other, but the Bears' compact defense continued to hold strong.

The Scots earned their first real chance at a score when a Bridgewater foul in the box gave Gordon a penalty kick opportunity. Gordon turned to their three-time leading scorer, Vandervoort, whose strong kick into the center of the goal nicked Bears' keeper Matt Bagley's shin and bounded into the webbing.

The Scots continued to put pressure on the Bears' defense and capitalized on a mistake in the 85th minute. Caleb Cole took a deflected ball and flicked it to the feet of Vandervoort. The senior ripped a shot into the goal to give the hosts the 2-1 lead.

Vandervoort scored his fourth straight game-winning goal and his seventh total in the same span. His eight goals lead the Scots on the year.

Hardy made three saves for the Scots, while Bagley turned aside a pair of shots between the pipes for the Bears. Gordon held a 14-10 shot advantage as well as a 4-1 edge in corner kicks.

Gordon (8-0) remains on campus for a Homecoming matchup with Commonwealth Coast Conference-rival Eastern Nazarene on Saturday afternoon at 2:30.  Bridgewater (3-4) entertains MASCAC foe Westfield State on Saturday at one.