Springfield, MA --- Western New England freshmen teamates Neil Williams (Brewster, NY) and Tyler Clark (Manchester, CT) recorded their first collegiate points this afternoon to help lead the Golden Bears to a 2-1 win over Worcester State in non-conference men's soccer action this afternoon.

The win helped the hosts improve to 9-3-1 while the Lancers slipped ot 4-3-4 overall. Western New England is ranked ninth in the latest NSCAA New England regional poll.

Neil and his older brother, Ryan, connected on the first scoring play to put WNE up 1-0 in the 12th minute. Senior Ryan Williams (Brewster, NY) took a flick-on from classmate Jake Bartnik near midfield and dribbled down the left wing before cutting to his right to elude a pair of WSU defenders.  He slid a nice diagonal pass at the top of the box to Neil Williams, who buried his first career collegiate goal.

Clark then notched with his first collegiate points by giving the Golden Bears a 2-0 advantage in the 31st minute. He was assisted by junior Chris Bruton (Guilford, CT).

Worcester States best opportunity to score in the opening frame came when junior Derek Kareta (Ludlow, MA) received a pass by senior Brendan Whitson (Auburn, MA) from the right wing in the 26th minute and rifled a shot directly at WNE goalkeeper senior Domenick Villano (Bronxville, NY), who made the key stop.

Whitson though cut the lead in half during the 59th minute when he scored his third goal of the season, unassisted, by stealing the ball from a WNE defender and beat Villano to his right.

Both teams had more scoring chances in the second half.

Villano stopped Whitson in the 47th minute and denied another point-blank opportunity for Kareta eight minutes later.

Western New England's best looks came less than a minute apart late in the contest as Clark went high just over the crossbar and senior Kevin Parma (Peconic, NY) was turned back by sophomore Tim Schmidt (Southwick, MA).

Villano and Schmidt both turned aside a trifecta of shots for their respective clubs. WNE led in shots (17-8), shots on goal (5-3) and both of their corners came in the first half.

Both squads will play again next Saturday. Worcester State continues their MASCAC schedule on the road at Mass Maritime at 12 PM as Western New England takes on Wentworth at home at 11 AM.

Major Portions of Release Courtesy of Western New England Sports Information

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