Leicester, MA --- Clark sophomore Oscar Zapata (Lima, Peru) scored twice as Clark defeated Worcester State, 6-1, on Sunday at Alumni Field on the Becker College campus, playing in the third-place game of the Worcester City Men's Soccer Tournament.

Clark begins their season with a 1-1 record while Worcester State falls to 0-2 with the setback.

Worcester State jumped out to the lead in the opening minutes when junior Brendan Whitson (Auburn, MA) recovered his own rebound after a save by the goalkeeper, deftly passing it to classmate Brian Cormier (Hudson, MA) who put it in just 8:52 into the game.

Clark would answer two and a half minutes later, as second-year Vaske Gjino (Worcester, MA) headed in an indirect kick from senior Gianluca Ranallo (Scarsdale, NY) for the equalizer.

Ranallo assisted on the go-ahead goal in the 21st minute, off a brilliant pass to Zapata as the Cougars went up 2-1. Zapata followed with an unassisted score in the 23rd minute, and Ranallo capped off the first period with a goal in the 43rd minute.

The Cougars didn't let up in the second half, as junior Zachary Doenmez (Dublin, NH) found the back of the net just 2:37 into the period. Clark third-year Will Van Noppen (Providence, RI) was awarded a penalty kick with just ten minutes remaining in the game, calmly shooting it through for the final tally.

Clark netminders, senior Ryan King (Brimfield, MA) and freshman Robert Bischof (Tarrytown, NY), combined for five saves on the day.

Worcester State freshman Garrett Wilga (Dudley, MA) was tagged with the setback as he gave way to freshman Tim Schmidt (Southwick, MA) who made one stop for WSU.

Both squads will play road contests on Wednesday evening. Clark takes on Nichols at 4 PM while the Blue and Gold head to Rhode Island College for a 6 o'clock matchup.

Major Portions Of Release Courtesy of Becker College Sports Information