Photo credit: David Henry/sweetdogphotos.com
The beautiful game can be a cruel beast at times. And Western Mass Pro Soccer was reminded of that fact during Friday’s ASL championship tilt.
After matching wits with Icon FC for 120 minutes, the Lusitanos watched their championship hopes slip away on penalties as the Garden State selection claimed the ASL title with a 0-0 (6-5) triumph on Friday at Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J.
The Lusitanos, who headed into the match as the top team in the ASL, finished the match with eight men after Dan Fabian, Pat Boucher and Jose Silva were red carded in the waning stages.
Western Mass striker Chris Roswess nearly put his team on top in the 46th minute when he blasted a shot off the post.
With the victory, Icon will go into the ASL record books as the first champion in league history while Western Mass will lay claim to the best regular season record (10-1-7, 37 points) during the league’s inaugural season.
What @wmprosoccer and @iconsoccer are playing for. @ASL_US @NonLeagueUSA pic.twitter.com/K1vjBvVDAq
— Rich Ransom (@richransom21) July 3, 2015
The 2015-16 ASL season will kick off in late-August.