Leicester, MA --- Freshman Evan Anderson's (Webster, MA) first collegiate goal in the 25th minute stood up as the match-clinching goal as Worcester State shutout crosstown rival Clark in the final round of the Worcester City Tournament at Becker's Alumni Field.
With the win and the loss, both squads now sport identical 1-1 records. WPI went 2-0 overall to claim their fifth City Tournament title with their victory on Friday over the Lancers and a win over Becker on Sunday.
Anderson broke the scoreless stalemate, when he took a beautiful feed on the left side of the box from junior Alfred Sogja (Shkoder, Albania/Doherty) and classmate Alec Ostrowski (Ludlow, MA), who passed the ball from the center of the field.
To start off the second half, Clark had several early chances to score the equalizer. With 4:42 off the clock in the period, Vaske Gjino (Worcester, MA/Doherty) had a great opportunity on net before freshman Ethan Ziemba (Glen Gardner, NJ) rang the right post three minutes later.
The Cougars also had a great corner kick chance in the 69th minute, but sophomore TJ Zirkman's (Freehold, NJ) try was blocked by the Lancer back line.
From that point forward, the defense for the Blue and Gold put a strong effort together and did not allow Clark to take another shot in final 20 minutes of regulation.
The Lancers also had attempts to net some insurance, but tries by sophomore Jonathan Silva (Worcester, MA/Abby Kelly Charter) and classmate Steven Julius (Ashby, MA) were high. WSU was also whistled for an offsides violation twice.
Junior Tim Schmidt (Southwick, MA) stopped all four shots he saw in his first career shutout. Four saves marks the highest sum a keeper has logged while blanking an opponent in City Tournament history.
Freshman Connor Mcguire (Dunstable, MA) collected two saves in the tough luck setback for the Cougars.
Worcester State led in shots (11-10), but Clark finished with advantages in corners (4-2) and shots on goal (4-3). It was also a physical contest with 30 fouls between the two squads.
Both squads continue their non-conference slates on the road on Wednesday. The Lancers head to Providence to take on Rhode Island College at 6 PM while the Cougars take the trek down I-395 to face off against Nichols in a 4 o'clock matchup.
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