Men's Soccer Blanks Mass. Maritime on Senior Day, 5-0

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University men's soccer team celebrated Senior Day with a 5-0 victory over Massachusetts State  Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) rival Mass. Maritime Academy on Friday afternoon at Swenson Field.

The Bears improve to 6-9 on the season and 4-2 in the MASCAC, while the Buccaneers falls to 4-11 overall and 2-4 in conference play. Bridgewater State is now 32-7-4 versus the Buccaneers since 1980.

Junior forward David Nelson (East Bridgewater, Mass.) scored a pair of goals and grad midfielder Kevin Roberts (Medway, Mass.) dished out a career-high three assists to lead the Bears to the key win.

Nelson broke the ice in the tenth minute of play. Roberts set up the goal as he won a ball near the left sideline and sent a long cross inside the box. Nelson corralled the pass and fired a shot inside the right post.

Nelson nearly made it a two-goal game in the 18th minute as he rang one of the crossbar.

Freshman forward Ethan Lafontant (Chelmsford, Mass.) extended the BSU lead to 2-0 in the 39th minute as he intercepted a clearance and ripped a shot inside the right post from 25 yards out. The goal marked Lafontant's third of the season.

Sophomore midfielder Will Halben (Attleboro, Mass.) made it a 3-0 game with 48 seconds left to play in the opening stanza as he converted off a corner kick. Halben's unassisted strike from 15 yards out snuck inside the left post for his second goal of the 2021 campaign.

Nelson netted his second marker of the game and fifth of the year in the 59th minute. After collecting a pass on the right side from junior forward Robson Montrond (Brockton, Mass.), Nelson cut to the middle and fired a left-footed shot under the crossbar from just inside the 18. Roberts picked up the secondary assist on the goal.

Freshman forward Brett Ghelfi (Halifax, Mass.) potted his first collegiate goal to cap off the scoring with just under two minutes left to play. Roberts sent Ghelfi in on a breakaway and the BSU rookie beat the Maritime netminder one-on-one with a shot inside the left post.

The Bears finished with a 26-22 shot advantage for the game, while the Buccaneers held an 8-6 edge in corner kick attempts.

BSU senior goalkeeper William Russell (Sandwich, Mass.) made nine saves in 85 minutes of action to pick up his fourth win of the season. Russell made a nice diving stop on a close-range scoring attempt by freshman forward Ryan Soughou (Bel Air, Md.) to preserve the shutout with six minutes left to play. He also made a leaping save off a restart four minutes into the contest as he knocked one over the crossbar on a shot by senior defender Jake McInerney (Hanover, Mass.).

Classmate Nicholas Hasenfus (Attleboro, Mass.) came on in relief in his first collegiate appearance between the pipes for the Bears and made one save in five minutes of work.

Senior netminder John Murphy (Braintree, Mass.) turned aside ten shots in the setback for Mass. Maritime.

Prior to the game, the Bears held Senior Day festivities as they honored Roberts, Russell, Hasenfus and fellow seniors Liam Lenihan (Rockland, Mass.) and Ryan O'Donnell (Westerly, R.I.).

In upcoming action, the Bears travel to Babson College on Tuesday afternoon for a three o'clock game with the Beavers. The Buccaneers entertain the Raiders of Rivier College on Monday night at seven.