(Courtesy of R.I. College Sports Information)

            PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Seniors Bruno Costa (Pawtucket, R.I.), Mike Patriarca (Warren, R.I.) and Troy Silvia (Bristol, R.I.) each recorded goals, and classmate Nick Clark (East Bridgewater, Mass.) earned his third shutout, as Rhode Island College cruised to a 4-0 victory over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a Little East Conference men's soccer game at the RIC Soccer Field on Saturday.

            With the regular season in the books, RIC (11-7, 5-2 LEC) finished in a tie for second place with Keene State College in the Little East standings. KSC holds the tiebreaker over RIC thanks a 2-0 win on October 15, and will host the third-seeded Anchormen on Wednesday (November 2) in semifinal action of the 2011 Little East Conference Men's Soccer Tournament.

            Southern Maine (3-15, 2-5 LEC) sees its season come to an end in the loss.

            The Anchormen drew first blood in the fourth minute after junior midfielder Donald Dane (Derry, N.H.) sidestepped a defender in the box and found Costa in front of the net with a crossing pass for the first goal of the game.  That would be the only marker of the opening half despite the Anchormen piling up a 16-2 advantage in shots.

            Leading by one at the half, Rhode Island College stormed out of the break with another goal in the 47th minute to make it, 2-0. Patriarca gained possession in the corner and worked his way towards the top of the box before rifling a shot past USM freshman goalkeeper Ian Dollen-Oliveto (Omaha, Neb.) for his sixth goal of the year.

            In 55th minute, Dane was tripped up in the box as he raced towards the net, resulting in a penalty kick. Silvia, senior defender, was called upon to take the shot and he ripped one past Dollen-Oliveto for his second goal of the season.

            The Anchormen tallied one more in the 77th minute in an unusual fashion. Freshman defender Patrick LaRoche (Gardner, Mass.) lined up for a corner kick and launched one to the far side of the box. The ball ricocheted off of a pair of Southern Maine defenders and bounced into the back of the net for LaRoche's first career goal.

            Clark registered five saves to improve his record to 11-6 while notching his third shutout of the season. Dollen-Oliveto (0-1) made nine saves in his first career start. RIC outshot the Huskies, 27-7.

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