Men's Soccer Blanks Anna Maria, 6-0, to Open MASCAC Play

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's soccer team scored five times in the second half to win the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference opener.

The Bears pinned a 6-0 loss on Anna Maria College at Mazzaferro Field Saturday afternoon, spoiling the AMCATS' debut in the MASCAC.

BSU, winners of two straight conference regular-season titles, is now 2-1 overall while Anna Maria is 1-2.

Junior goalkeeper Kyle Sullivan (Enfield, Conn.) recorded his first shutout for the Bears, making one save.

He made a leaping stop off a shot by freshman Nils Cofalka (Hamburg, Germany) with less than seven minutes to go in the first half with the Bears nursing a 1-0 lead.

Junior Nicholas Ribeiro (Bellingham, Mass.) scored twice for BSU while senior Melvin Alves (Brockton, Mass.) had a goal and an assist.

The Bears' 1-0 halftime lead came via an unassisted goal by Ribeiro at 18:26.

After Anna Maria cleared the ball following a shot, it went right to Ribeiro, who fired a shot inside the right post from 23 yards away.

Junior Hector Bucio (Easton, Mass.) made it 2-0 at 56:09 with senior Ryan Healy (Cork, Ireland) and senior Gavin Norton (Rockland, Mass.) assisting.

A short pass by Healy sent Bucio down the right side, and his shot caromed off the far post and into the net.

At 67:24, Ribeiro made it 3-0 with another unassisted goal. He scored on a corner kick from the left side with the ball going under the crossbar and into the back corner of the net.

The Bears went up, 4-0, at 76:26 on an unassisted goal by Alves. He forced an Anna Maria turnover on the right side, dribbled into the box and put a left-footed shot inside the far post.

Alves then assisted on a goal by sophomore Thomas Neves (Medway, Mass.) at 79:06. Neves fired a shot inside the right post from 21 yards out.

The last goal of the game came at 84:19 from senior Brett Ghelfi (Halifax, Mass.), assisted by senior Filippo Mucci (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) and sophomore Eliude Alcenat (Carrefour, Haiti).

Ghelfi moved behind the AMCATS's defense after a thru-ball from Mucci and beat the goalkeeper one-on-one with a shot inside the right post.

Anna Maria freshman goalkeeper Federico Foganio (Milan, Italy) made five saves.

The Bears had a 24-5 edge in shots and an 11-1 advantage in shots on goal.

BSU will be home on Tuesday to face Brandeis University in a non-conference game at 7 p.m.

Anna Maria plays Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Worcester against Holy Cross.