ASL: Western Mass Books Ticket to Title Game
- Updated: June 28, 2015
Western Mass Pro Soccer booked its ticket to the ASL title match after beating the Philadelphia Fury 2-0 in Saturday’s semifinal contest at Lusitano Stadium.
Chris Roswess opened the scoring in the 41st minute, then assisted on Tomaso D’Agostino’s 56th minute insurance strike. Goalkeeper Jose Silva made four saves to keep the Fury from finding the scoreboard.
Roswess fired the first of his game-high seven shots in the 20th minute when he steered a header that just cleared the bar. But he’d make up for that miss not long after.
With halftime looming, and a steady rain making the artificial surface at Lusitano Stadium fast, Roswess used his speed to latch onto a Dan Fabian feed and bury it in the 41st minute.
The Lusitanos’ striker helped his team get on the board shortly after the half, as well. With the Fury searching for answers, Roswess played a ball to D’Agostino, who sent it past goalkeeper Chase Clement to widen the margin. Clement was called upon to make a total of nine saves on Saturday to keep his side within striking distance.
Second half substitute Blaise Sindjui came off the bench for the Fury in 62nd minute to register a team-high two shots, one of which beat Silva, but not defender Jay Willis. The Western Mass mainstay found himself in the right place and the right time when he cleared Sindjui’s 67th minute effort right off the line to help preserve the clean sheet.
The Lusitanos will face Icon FC, who beat the Rhode Island Oceaneers 6-0 in their semifinal match, in Friday’s ASL Championship match at Rutgers University in Newark, N.J.