Men's Soccer Posts 5-1 Win Over Wentworth

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's soccer team rolled to a 5-1 victory over visiting Wentworth Institute of Technology on Saturday morning at hot and humid Mazzaferro Field.

The Bears picked up their first win of the season to improve to 1-1-1, while the Leopards fell to 2-2. Bridgewater is now 1-2-1 all-time against Wentworth as the two teams met for the first time in 2019.

Senior forward David Nelson (East Bridgewater, Mass.) potted a pair of goals to lead the way for Bridgewater State. Freshman midfielder Nicholas Ribeiro (Bellingham, Mass.), senior forward Will Halben (Attleboro, Mass.) and senior midfielder Joseph Kingara (New Bedford, Mass.) also scored for the Bears.

Nelson opened the scoring for Bridgewater in the 12th minute. He tracked down a long pass sent down the left side by junior midfielder Nicolas Matias (Milford, Mass.), dribbled through two defenders and beat the Wentworth keeper with a well-placed shot inside the far post for his first marker of the season.

The Leopards tied it up at 1-1 in the 18th minute as senior forward Jacob Dukeshire (Nashua, N.H.) headed home a corner kick sent towards the back post by senior defender Nile Keiller (Bowie, Md.). The goal marked the team-leading fourth of the season for Dukeshire.

Wentworth senior goalkeeper Noah Lawless (Whitefish Bay, Wisc.) made an outstanding diving stop on a header attempt by freshman forward Thomas Terry (South Yarmouth, Mass.) to keep the score knotted at 1-1 in the 33rd minute.

Ribeiro ripped a beautiful shot into the top-right corner of the net from 21 yards out to put the Bears back on top, 2-1, with three minutes remaining in the first half. Terrific passing by Terry and classmate Matthew Furtado (Dartmouth, Mass.) set up Ribeiro's first collegiate scoring strike.

The Bears extended the lead to 3-1 in the 53rd minute as Halben potted his second goal of the season. Sophomore defender Gavin Norton (Rockland, Mass.) made a long uncontested run down the left side and chipped a pass into the 18 and onto the foot of Halben who buried a one-timer under the crossbar. Graduate goaltender William Russell (Sandwich, Mass.) also assisted on the goal.

Nelson made it a 4-1 game in the 81st minute with his 21st career goal. Sophomore midfielder Ryan Healy (Cork, Ireland) started the play near midfield as he headed the ball forward to Terry who slipped a pass to a streaking Nelson on the right side.  Nelson chipped the ball over the oncoming keeper and into the back of the net.

Kingara put the finishing touches on the 5-1 victory with his first goal of season in the 88th minute as he ripped a shot inside the left post from 16 yards out. Senior midfielder Ethan DeMelo (Acushnet, Mass.) assisted on the strike as he collected a loose ball at the top of the 18 and touched a pass over to Kingara.

The Bears finished with a decided 23-6 shot advantage as well as a 9-2 edge in corner kick attempts.

Russell made two saves to record his first win of the season. Lawless turned aside seven shots between the pipes for the Leopards.

Both teams are back in action on Tuesday evening. The Bears entertain the Judges of Brandeis University at seven o'clock while the Leopards travel to Emerson College to take on the Lions at six.