BETHLEHEM, Pa. - In what turned into an offensive shootout early in the second half, the Montgomery County Community College Mustangs took control at the midway point of the second stanza and cruised to a 7-3 victory over Northampton in men's soccer action on Thursday afternoon at Spartan Field. 

Montgomery jumped out to a 3-0 lead at halftime, but the Spartans came out of the locker room after intermission with a renewed enthusiasm and quickly cut the deficit to 3-2 behind two goals from sophomore Abdallah Ferdjani (Algeria/El Macir).

The Mustangs were able to slow the momentum with a goal of their own to make it 4-2, but Ayouba Sheriff (Oreland, PA/Philadelphia City) responded with a goal to cut the margin to 4-3, before Montgomery was able to take control and earn the victory. 

"Once again, it comes down to us just not having enough bodies to compete for 90 minutes," remarked Head Coach Mario Barrantes, "I really like the talent we have on the field, we just don't have the depth to provide a break for our starters."

Northampton, for the second straight game, was forced to play with just 11 players, after losing goaltender Matthew Doyle-Sochan (East Stroudsburg, PA/Duncan U. Fletcher High (FL)) to an injury late in the first half. 

"I'm really proud of how hard the guys are playing," commented Barrantes, "Christian Reichert (East Stroudsburg, PA/East Stroudsburg) and Angel Villeda (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) realy provided us with a lift today on the defensive side."

Andrew Tinna (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock Area) had an assist, as did Kevin Acosta (Easton, PA/Easton), while William Winters (Albrightsville, PA/Pocono Mt. West) made 8 saves in relief of Doyle-Sochan. 

The loss drops Northampton to 2-4-0 overall, while Montgomery improves to 3-0-0. 

The Spartans return to action on Saturday at 1:30pm vs. Ocean County College in the second half of a women's / men's doubleheader.