Men's Soccer Blanks Plymouth State, 3-0

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- After going scoreless for the first 250 minutes of the season, the Bridgewater State men's soccer team registered three goals in a 14 minute span late in the second half to blank visiting Plymouth State, 3-0, in a non-conference match-up Sunday afternoon.  The win was the Bears (1-2) first of 2013 while Panthers are now 0-2.

Colin Neri (Upton, MA) broke the scoring draught when he collected a long ball from Camilo Mora (Houston, TX) and shot it past the goalkeeper into the left side at 72:17.   It was Neri's first goal since 2011 for the senior and fifth of his career.  Just over seven minutes later Josh Goehring (Haverhill, MA) dented the scoring column for the first time in his career when poked home a misplayed ball from in from of the goal crease.  The scoring barrage ended less than seven minutes later when Steve McAvoy (Walpole, MA) took advantage of another PSU miscue and knocked home his sixth career marker.

Statistically the games featured two distinct halves.  Plymouth State had the better of the action in the first half, enjoying a 5-3 edge in shots and attempting both corner kicks.  The Bears came out of the cloakroom after intermission like a team possessed, enjoying a 6-1 bulge in both shots and corners.  Plymouth was unable to muster a shot over the final 41 minutes of the contest.

Senior Matt Bagley (Braintree, MA) collected four saves en route to posting his fifth career shutout for Bridgewater State.  Danny Marsh (Farmington, CT) was credited with two stops on the day and visitors were aided by a ball cleared off the line by David Quist (Stockholm, Sweden) in the 58th minute.  Christian Bua (Gilford, NH) was the only Panther with multiple shots.

Both teams return to the field on Wednesday evening.  Bridgewater State entertains MIT at 7pm while Plymouth State plays the final contest of a three-game season-opening road trip when they visit Salem State at 6pm.