Men's Soccer Posts 4-2 MASCAC Win Over Mass. Maritime

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's soccer team posted a 4-2 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over visiting Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Saturday afternoon at Mazzaferro Field.

The Bears improve to 7-2-4 on the season and 4-0-1 in the MASCAC while the Buccaneers fall to 2-9-2 overall and 0-4-1 in conference play. Bridgewater State is 33-7-4 versus the Buccaneers since 1980.

A header goal by sophomore forward Filippo Mucci (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) opened the scoring just under seven minutes into the game. Junior defender Justin Silva (North Attleboro, Mass.) sent a long volley into the 18. Mucci beat the oncoming goalkeeper to the ball and his header attempt found its way into the center of the open cage. For Mucci, the goal marked his fourth of the season.

BSU senior defender Matthew Garcia (Foxboro, Mass.) headed one off the line to keep it a one-goal game in the tenth minute.

Freshman forward Brody Calvert (Windsor, Mass.) nearly got behind the Bears' defense in the 12th minute, but his contested shot went wide of the right post.

Freshman midfielder Nicholas Ribeiro (Bellingham, Mass.) extended the Bridgewater lead to 2-0 in the 27th minute. Sophomore defender Gavin Norton (Rockland, Mass.) sent a left side crossing pass to the opposite side of the field. Freshman midfielder Tyler Chang (Acushnet, Mass.) tapped a pass back to the middle to an oncoming Ribeiro who fired a shot under the crossbar from 11 yards out.

Freshman goalkeeper Kaden Winter (Walpole, Mass.) made back-to-back impressive saves to in the 30th minute to keep the MMA deficit at two. The Bears would take the 2-0 lead into the break.

Senior midfielder CJ Vincent (Carver, Mass.) capitalized on a BSU turnover to get the Buccaneers on the board in the 52nd minute. Junior forward Ryan Soughou (Bel Air, Md.) intercepted an ill-advised clearing attempt and slipped a pass over to Vincent who beat the netminder with a shot inside the right post for his fifth marker of the 2023 campaign.

The Bears' regained the two-goal cushion in the 55th minute as Ribeiro potted his second goal of the game and fourth of the season. Freshman midfielder Ethan Mallett (Ellington, Conn.) split two defenders with a lengthy pass from midfield. Senior forward Will Halben (Attleboro, Mass.) beat a defender and the charging goaltender to the ball well outside the 18 and tapped a pass over to Ribeiro on the left. Ribeiro calmy dribbled to the empty net and tapped it in to give the hosts a 3-1 lead.

Junior forward Dominek Borden (New Bedford, Mass.) made it a 4-1 game in the 77th minute with his first goal of the season. Silva picked up his second assist of the afternoon as he sent a long pass down the right side. The Maritime keeper came way out to play the ball and Borden beat him to it. Borden lofted a tough angle shot with his left foot from outside the 18 and hooked it into the unguarded net.

Maritime sophomore forward Luke Twomey (Marshfield, Mass) converted on a penalty kick to cap off the scoring with just 33 seconds showing on the scoreboard.

Bridgewater held a 21-11 shot advantage for the game as well as a 7-1 edge in corner kick attempts. The Bears were whistled for seven offside calls.

BSU graduate goalkeeper William Russell (Sandwich, Mass.) played the first 80-plus (80:26) minute and was credited with one save as he earned his seventh win of the season and 20th of his career. Junior netminder Lukas Ekmanis (Baxter, Tenn.) made his first appearance of the season and turned aside one shot.

Winter and freshman keeper Payton Neale (Stonington, Conn.) split the game between the pipes for the Buccaneers with Winter making four saves.

Both teams are back in action on Tuesday. The Bears host UMass Dartmouth at three o'clock while the Buccaneers entertain Lesley University at seven o'clock.