BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. – Behind a three-goal second half effort, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy defeated UMass Dartmouth in non-conference action on Tuesday night. The Buccaneers, who won by a 4-2 margin, move to 4-10-2 on the season, while the Corsairs slip to 1-12-4 overall.
The Buccaneers opened the games scoring at the 1:57 mark as a miscue by the Corsairs defense saw Brody Calvert corral the ball, dribble in to the 10-yard mark and fire in a bullet shot past the reach of UMass Dartmouth keeper
Jack Waterhouse.
UMass Dartmouth evened things up at 22:05 as a foul in the penalty box handed the Corsairs a penalty kick attempt. Senior midfielder
Sam Matias stepped up to take the attempt, sending it into the right corner of the net to make it a tie game.
Out of halftime, Mass Maritime took the edge on the scoreboard just under three minutes in. An untimely foul call in the box on the Corsairs set up an opportunity for the home team. CJ Vincent stepped up to take the penalty kick, sending it past a diving Waterhouse on the right side for the 2-1 lead.
The Corsairs nearly had the chance to tie things up minutes later as
Brandon Araujo fired in a shot, but Buccaneers keeper Kaden Winter made the stop at 48:06. The Corsairs had two more point blank attempts as Araujo fired in back-to-back shots that Winter was able to deflect away, but the momentum shifted to the Buccaneers.
Vincent got the play started after the ball caromed in on a throw in. In a scrum, he sent a close shot in on Waterhouse, who made the diving save. The ball came loose and Ryan Soughou was there at the right corner to send the ball sailing into the upper left corner of the net for the 3-1 lead.
The Buccaneers pushed the score to 4-1 at 62:23 after a pass through the goal mouth found Vincent, who spun around and sent a pass left to Luke Twomey – who had come in off the bench seconds earlier - for a low bullet shot into the right corner.
UMass Dartmouth answered late in the second half after a long ball was sent in on the MMA goal. Winter got hands on the ball but was unable to control it as it fell behind him and junior midfielder
Jacob Murphy was there to kick it home to close the gap to two (4-2) with 10 minutes remaining.
The Corsairs were unable to pull the margin any closer as the Buccaneers defense held solid over the final minutes, despite a 14-8 advantage in shots on goal for the visitors.
Mass Maritime saw four different goal scorers in the contest, paced by Vincent who had a match-high four shots (three on goal). Winter earned the victory in goal, recording 11 stops for the Buccaneers.
UMass Dartmouth was paced by Matias with three shots – all on goal – including the first goal for the visitors. Junior midfielder
Braeden LeClair added three shots, including two on goal, as Murphy netted the other tally – his first of the season. In goal, Waterhouse made four saves.
The Corsairs return to action on Saturday, hosting LEC-rival Plymouth State on Cressy Field. The 3:30pm match will also mark Senior Day for UMass Dartmouth.
