MASCAC Men's Soccer Tournament Bracket
Worcester, MA --- Junior Brendan Whitson (Auburn, MA) netted two goals and added an assist for five points as he helped lead Worcester State to a 3-1 victory over MCLA on the final weekend of MASCAC men's soccer action this evening at Coughlin Field.
With the win the Lancers (4-10-2, 2-3-2 MASCAC) have earned the fifth seed in next week's MASCAC Tournament. They will play #4 Bridgewater State on Wednesday at 2 PM in the quarterfinals. WSU drew to a scoreless tie in their regular-season meeting against the Bears.
The Trailblazers end their season at 5-10 and 1-6 in league action.
Third-year Alex Wolfel (Farmington, CT) helped give the hosts the early 1-0 advantage when he hit home a long pass from the right corner by Whitson in the eighth minute.
Following back-to-back opportunities on net by senior Joseph Mecca (Amsterdam, NY) and classmate Jacob McCall (Lincoln, RI) – which were both scooped by freshman Tim Schmidt (Southwick, MA) – around the 37th minute, the Blue and Gold tacked on another goal for the 2-0 lead at the intermission.
Junior Brian Cormier (Hudson, MA) found an opening on the right side of the field as he sent a cross to the top of the box right to Whitson who knocked in the ball from close range in the 42nd minute.
The first half of play was closely contested as WSU led in shots, 10-8 (4-3 on goal) and the hosts also had one corner kick attempted.
MCLA came out onto the field and made the match a game when they scored a little more than eight minutes into the second period.
Taking advantage of a corner kick opportunity, Mecca fired a perfect pass across the right side of the end-line right to Mecca to help the Trailblazers cut into the lead for his team-leading seventh of the campaign.
The visitors continued to pepper the net with shots, but Schmidt came up big for the Lancers. He would stop seven of their last eight shots on goal to preserve things for WSU.
The Lancers, however, added an insurance goal in the 72nd minute for some much needed breathing room. Cormier found Whitson on a pass from the right side, which Whitson chipped in for his squad-best eighth goal of the campaign for what proved to be the final score.
MCLA actually outshot their hosts, 19-18 (11-8 in second half) and the visitors held the 5-3 lead in corners.
Senior Dillon Wager (Amserdam, NY) finished the final contest as a collegian with five stops for the Trailblazers.
With his seventh tally of the season, Wolfel moves into a tie for 10th on WSU's all-time scoring list with Sal Bazzano (1980-82). Wolfel has potted all of his markers on the campaign in seven out of the last nine games.
For their respective contributions to the squad, senior teamates DJ Gustafson (Webster, MA) and Ed Brennan (Worcester, MA/St. Peter-Marian) were handed flowers and honored on "Senior Day" for playing in their final home regular season contest.