(Courtesy of Bowdoin College Sports Information)

Bowdoin Downs Southern Maine 5-0

            BRUNSWICK, Maine -- The Bowdoin College men's soccer team scored five first-half goals to give new head coach Scott Wiercinski a victory in his Polar Bear coaching debut Tuesday afternoon, 5-0 over the University of Southern Maine Huskies.

            The Polar Bears (1-0-0) had been 0-3-1 in their last four season-opening matches. Southern Maine (0-2-0) saw their losing skid against Bowdoin stretch to five, dating back to 2008.

            After a brief delay due to lightning, Bowdoin wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as sophomore Ben Citrin (Chevy Chase, Md./Sidwell Friends) launched a shot from the top of the box that deflected off a USM defender and sailed over the head of rookie goalkeeper Matthew Willis (Standish, Maine/Bonny Eagle) at 5:25. The Polar Bears doubled their lead at 10:09 when sophomore Andrew Jones (Scarborough, Maine) deposited a blast into the lower-right corner.

            In the 25th minute, senior co-captain Zach Danssaert (Solana Beach, Calif./Canyon Crest) scored the first of his two goals when junior Daniel Melong (Winnipeg, Man./Shattuck-St. Mary's) fed a low crossing pass to Danssaert, who tapped it into the bottom left corner. Sophomore Hunter Miller's (Aurora, Ill./Benet Academy) first career goal came at 36:00 as a shot slipped through traffic to the lower left corner. Danssaert finished off the scoring by putting home a loose ball off a deflected free kick at 42:01.

            Bowdoin, which held a 32-0 edge in shots for the game, saw senior Will Wise (Cohasset, Mass.) and junior Ian McNamara (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seven Hills School) split time in net.  Williams made four saves for Southern Maine before giving way to classmate Adam Verreault (Poland, Maine/Poland Regional) who made no saves and allowed no goals over the final 24:31.

            The Huskies, who play their first five games on the road this season, take to the field on Friday (5:00 p.m.) against Maine Maritime in the opening day of the Husson University Cup in Bangor.  The Polar Bears will return to action at home Saturday (12:00 p.m.) against NESCAC rival Wesleyan.

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