PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Powered by goals in each half, the Plymouth State men's soccer team defeated UMass Dartmouth, 3-0 in Little East Conference action on Friday afternoon. The Panthers move to 8-8-2 overall and 3-4-1 in conference play, they now wait for the remainder of the LEC schedule to conclude to know their playoff hopes. The Corsairs conclude the regular season with a 3-12-3 mark, going 0-6-2 in the LEC.
Despite an early attempt off the foot of fifth year forward
Joey Paiva, the Corsairs were unable to hold off the Panthers, who scored in the 13th minute to take the 1-0 lead. Powered by a centered left pass from Faisal Abdallah, the Panthers saw Vince Cassarino drive the ball into the left corner past UMass Dartmouth keeper
Ethan Donahue.
Late in the opening half, it was Paiva once more, nearly equalizing the score as he fired two shots in on goalie Nicolas Cornejo within a minute of one another, but was unable to get one past. The two teams headed into halftime with Plymouth State up 1-0.
Second half action saw possession on both sides with the Panthers getting a couple of strikes in that were saved by Donahue. The home team solved the Corsairs keeper in the 68th minute as Abdallah careened through the goal mouth on the right side after collecting the ball from Valentijn Buma, firing it in for the 2-0 advantage.
In the 74th minute, the Panthers answered once again, this time from Lucas Houghton, who corralled a pass from Abdallah to give Plymouth State the 3-0 margin. The Corsairs saw sophomore midfielder
Mario Rodriguez fire a shot in, but the ball sailed just high and out of play with 12 minutes remaining in the contest.
Plymouth State continued to hold the Corsairs off the board for the remainder of the contest, utilizing solid defense despite several free kick opportunities for the visitors. In goal, the Panthers were paced by Cornejo, who recorded four saves for the victory.
In the other end, Donahue recorded two saves for the Corsairs, while five different players recorded shots – including four from Paiva.
