Worcester, MA- After a tough conference opening loss this past Saturday, the Worcester State Men's Soccer team (0-5, 0-1) stepped away from MASCAC to play to head to Curry College this evening. Worcester is still looking for that elusive first victory of the season, and with a complete game performance tonight, they hope to grab a win. 

Final:

Worcester State: 1

Curry: 0

How it Happened:

In the first half, the Lancers started off with sustained pressure in the attacking zone which saw them awarded a corner kick early in the match. Sophomore Bryan Cavanaugh (Auburn, MA) would go for a solid attempt on frame but it was blocked to the side by a Curry defender. While the Lancers were unable to produce, an attempt by sophomore Arthur Tome (Milford, MA) of Worcester would place the Colonels on their heels before ultimately traveling just wide of the cage. Curry's goaltender Brendan Cunningham had to stand tall to save on senior Nate Lewos (Auburn, MA) while another corner kick by junior Wilber Garcia (Bilboa, Spain) at the 10:39 minute mark was blocked and sent deep out of the zone. The game was consistently back and forth up and down the pitch multiple times and an offsides call  Worcester would prevent a grade A opportunity. Junior Lietson Barbosa (Pawtucket, RI) and Cavanaugh would add to the scoring attempts by the Lancers, but Curry's defense was standing strong. Curry managed to  respond with a chance of their own with a shot from Kaden Puglia but it was nimbly blocked by Worcester's defense. Worcester would continue to pepper the Colonel defensive core with attempts by sophomore Brendan Lower (Grafton, MA), Cavanaugh, and Tome, but were unable to get past the goal line. As the intensity rose, so did the cards from the official pockets as each team was starting to feel the first half pressure to grab a breather goal, but each team would be unable to, closing out the opening half with a 0-0 tie. 

The second half looked promising for Curry after the opening shot by Ray Weinstein however first year  goalkeeper Sergio Torrado (Arroyomolinos, ES) remained calm in net making the save. A yellow card would provide Curry another shot opportunity created for Kaden Puglia which was saved by Torrado to keep the score settled at 0-0. A rush by Worcester and a shot by Barbosa was blocked but Worcester would be awarded the corner kick which graduate student  Manny Ramirez (Waltham, MA) would look to connect with but the Curry netminder stayed strong. While closing in on the final minutes, Rob Nicolazzo of Curry took a bad yellow card which put Worcester in a great spot to put some last minute pressure on the Colonels. While moving down the pitch,In the final minute of action in the game, the Lancers found what they had been searching for all game, Barbosa handled the ball efficiently and buried a crucial shot past the Colonel keeper to score in the final seconds and grab Worcester their first win of the season. This was Barbosa's first goal of the season and a big one!

Barbosa would lead the Lancers with three shots on cage in the game, to go along with the crucial game winner while Torrado would end his night with two saves in the net for the complete game shutout. 

What's Next:

Worcester State (1-5, 0-1) are back in conference action Saturday when they welcome the Westfield State Owls to John Coughlin Field to head up the Saturday Homecoming 2024 games at 11am.