WORCESTER, Mass. – The Worcester State University men's soccer team shutout the MCLA Trailblazers by a score of 2-0 Friday evening in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) season opener.

THE BASICS

September 15, 2017
John F. Coughlin Field
Score: Worcester State 2, MCLA 0
Records: Worcester State (3-1, 1-0 MASCAC) | MCLA (2-4, 0-1 MASCAC)

1^ST HALF

Worcester State tallied a quick goal in the 5^th minute of the game to take the 1-0 advantage. After a throw-in was knocked away by MCLA, the ball was recovered by Worcester State's Justin Echeverry (Methuen, Mass.) and passed across the net into the box for fellow sophomore Mitch Myrthil (Clinton, Mass.) to kick into the net from the left side about 10 yards out. Neither team was able to slice another goal past the defense, resulting in a 1-0 score at the half. Worcester State outshot the visitors 10-6 (5-1 SOG) in the first stanza.

2^ND HALF

The Lancers added to their lead early in the second frame when senior Andre Ipojuca (Saugus, Mass.) gathered control of the ball on a breakaway and quickly passed to his right for Bryan Brasil (Williamsburg, Mass.) to score his fifth goal of the season on a leaping shot into the lower right corner. Worcester State turned away three shots on net in the remainder of the half, including two in the last 10 minutes of play to seal the victory.

A NUMBERS GAME

• In addition to Brasil tallying his fifth goal of the season (fourth of the week), he earned game-high honors of three shots on goal.
• MCLA's Romeo Grey (Mashpee, Mass.) led the Trailblazers in shots (4) while Ryan Wanek (South Salem, N.Y.) collected three (one on net).
• With the win, Worcester State's netminder Jason Barrett (Spencer, Mass.) improves to 2-1 and notches his first shutout on the season in a four-save performance. MCLA's Kamron Anderson (Springfield, Mass.) suffers the loss, stopping four shots on net.
• Worcester State outshot MCLA in the first stanza (10-6), however, the Trailblazers came in with a strong attack in the second half with eight of their 14 shot attempts coming in the second. 
• Worcester State held a 7-5 margin in corner kicks.

UP NEXT

The Worcester State men's soccer team will play non-conference opponent, UMass Boston, on Wednesday (Sep. 20) at Coughlin Field. The Trailblazers resume play on Tuesday (Sep. 19) when they travel to Skidmore for a 4:30 p.m. matchup.