BOSTON, Mass. – Three different members of the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's soccer team – including freshman James Morrison (New South Wales, Australia) who also had an assist – located the back of the net as the Leopards defeated University of New England, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon at Sweeney Field in Commonwealth Coast Conference play.
With the win, their fifth straight, the Leopards improve to 11-3 overall and 4-2 in conference play, while the Nor'easters dip to 2-13 and 0-6.
Freshman Nate Delesdernier (Niantic, Conn.) commenced the match with a great opportunity to locate the back of the net, however, his shot at 2:54 wound up being denied by the Wentworth backline. The Leopards offense came to life minutes later, firing five consecutive shots, but none of the attempts sailed past freshman goalkeeper Jake Rostkowski (Rockland, Mass.).
Neither team would score until late in the session when senior Sam Martins (Dartmouth, Mass.) converted on a penalty kick at 40:18. Martin and the Leopards were rewarded a penalty kick after junior Alec Watkinson (Merrimack, N.H.) was taken down in the box.
Freshman Noah Martins (Dartmouth, Mass.) doubled the Wentworth lead roughly two minutes later by corralling a pass from Morrison over the middle and sending a one-touch shot into the net at 42:52.
Wentworth's offensive output concluded midway through the second half when Morison drilled a pass from sophomore Joe Kalil (Franklin, Mass.) from the top of the box for his third goal of the season at 61:54.
UNE attempted to put the visitors on the board minutes later, but senior McGyver Poulin's (Windham, Maine) shot sailed high above the Wentworth net. The Nor'easters would finish the session with six shots, but Wentworth senior Kevin Pepin (Fairhaven, Mass.) and freshman Matthew Sekerak (Winthrop, Maine) combined for a trio of second half stops.
Sekarek made a pair of saves in 64:14 of work while Pepin stopped two shots in 25:46. For the Nor'Easters, freshman Jake Rutkowski (Rockport, Mass.) made seven saves in 70:57 while senior Nate Diffin (York, Maine) made three stops in 19:03.
Wentworth concluded the match with 24 shots, including 15 in the opening session. The Leopards recorded eight corners – four in each half – while the Nor'easters finished with nine shots.
Both teams return to action next week as Wentworth travels to Endicott College for a 4:00 p.m. start on Wednesday, October 21, while UNE heads to the University of Southern Maine for a 4:00 p.m. match on Monday, October 19.
