BUZZARDS BAY, Mass — The Bucs men’s soccer team opened Homecoming Weekend at the Academy by hosting MCLA in conference play on Friday night. Entering the game, the Trailblazers were two games above .500 and leading the MASCAC while the Buccaneers were at the bottom of the conference standings. Midway through the second half, the Bucs scored to break the scoreless tie and then again later in the half to seal their 2-0 victory over the Trailblazers.
The Basics
Final: Buccaneers 2, Trailblazers 0
Records: Maritime (2-6, 1-1)
MCLA (5-4, 1-1)
Between The Pipes
Maritime: Preston Joia (W, 2-6): 4 SOG | 0 GA | 4 SV | 90 Min
MCLA: Ryan Taylor (L, 5-3): 9 SOG | 2 GA | 7 SV | 90 Min
Inside The Numbers
Maritime
- Senior captain Ryan Soughou scored his first goal of the season in the 73rd minute to give the Buccaneers a 1-0 lead. His goal proved to be the game winner.
- Sophomore Brody Calvert scored his fourth of the season in the 81st minute to make the score 2-0.
- Sophomore John Burke assisted both goals in the win and freshman Michael Kennedy assisted on Soughou’s goal.
- In total, Maritime took 19 shots and had six corner kicks, all in the second half.
MCLA
- The Trailblazers took four shots on goal, each from a different player.
- In total, MCLA took 13 shots and had two corner kicks in the loss.
How It Happened
In the first half, it was a defensive battle between the two squads with 15 combined shots but few on target. There was also only one corner kick in the first 45 minutes, from MCLA, that they were unable to capitalize on. The match remained scoreless at the half.
The second half began similarly to the first half with a lot of defense and not a lot of shots. As the half progressed, each team was chomping for that first goal. In the 73rd minute, the Buccaneers finally broke through. Burke delivered a ball into the box that found Kennedy who took a shot that was saved. The ball fell to the head of Soughou and he beat the keeper to put the Bucs up 1-0 on the MASCAC leaders. Eight minutes later, Burke with the ball again, he delivered a ball up the right sideline that Calvert chased down. The MCLA defense, attempting to let the ball roll to Taylor in the box, didn’t anticipate the speed of Calvert who went right past the defender and keeper to slot the ball home to extend the Buccaneers lead to 2-0. In the final 10 minutes, the Trailblazers had their chances but were unable to break the shutout and Maritime went on to win 2-0 on Homecoming Weekend.
What’s Next
The Buccaneers travel to the University of New England for a non-conference game with the Nor’Easters on Tuesday, October 1st with kickoff at 7pm.
