Box Score (Courtesy of Western Connecticut Sports Information)
DANBURY, Conn. -- The University of Southern Maine took advantage of one of its few offensive opportunities to claim a 1-0 victory over the Western Connecticut State University men's soccer team at the Westside Athletic Complex Saturday afternoon.
Although the game remained scoreless for the first 45 minutes of play, WestConn dominated the offensive opportunities throughout the half recording 11 shots to only three by Southern Maine. The Huskies' junior keeper, Jermey Turner (Portland, Maine/Deering), made six first-half saves, while sophomore Jack Holub (Sherman, CT) was only called upon to make one save in goal for WestConn.
The Colonials best scoring chance in the first half came on a corner kick taken by junior Vito Landolfi (East Haven, Conn.). Vandolfi's pass across the box was headed by junior Taras Zyma (Bristol, Conn.), but sailed just wide of the post.
WestConn missed an opportunity to take the lead early in the second half when a pass into the middle of the box found freshman Chris Jeffery (Norwalk, Conn.) unmarked by the Husky defense, less than 10 yards from the goal. Jeffrey received the ball in stride, but his shot was just inches above the crossbar.
Two minutes later, Southern Maine capitalized on a scramble in front of the WestConn goal to take a 1-0 lead. After the Huskies moved the ball into the WestConn end, sophomore Adam Groves (Brooksville, Maine) took a shot that deflected off a WestConn defender, landing directly in front freshman Mazen Aljari (Saudi Arabia). Aljari simply had to punch the ball into the right side of the goal as Holub had been positioned at the opposite post.
At the 58:07 mark, WestConn sophomore Gabriel Goja (Naugatuck, Conn.) received a pass just outside the left post and about eight yards from the goal. Goja settle the ball quickly and his cross-cage blast appeared to be headed into the far side of the goal, but Turner made a diving save at the goal line to keep the Colonials scoreless. In all, WestConn took 10 shots in the second half, but Southern Maine held on for a 1-0 victory.
For the game, WestConn held a 21-9 advantage in shots, and an 8-1 edge in corner kicks. Holub finished with three saves in a losing effort for WestConn, while Turner finished with seven saves for Southern Maine.
The win stopped a five-match losing skid for the Huskies and moves them to 1-5-0 overall and 1-0 in the LEC. With the loss, the Colonials season record now stands at 1-5, and 0-1 in the Little East Conference.
The Huskies return home to play Thomas College in a non-conference match on Tuesday (4:00 p.m.). The Colonials are back in to action on Friday (7:00 p.m.) when they host Little East Conference rival UMass Dartmouth at the Westside Athletic Complex.
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