BOSTON, Mass. – Three different members of the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's soccer team located the back of the net as the Leopards cruised to a 3-0 non-conference win over Johnson & Wales University on Sunday afternoon in non-conference action at Sweeney Field. With the win, the Leopards improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2001, while the Wildcats suffer their initial setback of the season.
Following a flurry of opportunities to commence the match, Wentworth senior David Cook (Waterville, Maine) set-up the initial strike by lofting a pass into the box to sophomore Matt Cicalis (Bridgewater, Mass.), who then headed the ball into the lower right corner at 20:55 to provide the hosts with a one-goal advantage.
Roughly five minutes later, Cook set-up his team's second marker of the afternoon, feeding freshman Noah Martins (Dartmouth, Mass.) over the middle, who then directed a shot past Johnson & Wales senior goalkeeper Nick Tolman (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) into the right lower corner at 25:49. The goal was Martin's first collegiate marker.
Johnson & Wales attempted to trim the deficit with back-to-back shots by junior Devin Walsh (Coventry, R.I.) and freshman Robert Hayman (Tomkins Cove, N.Y.), but the initial attempt was blocked, while the second shot sailed wide right. Junior Andrew Greenleaf (Allen, Texas) also attempted to slice the deficit late in the session, but his shot landed to wide right.
Wentworth, which entered the second half with a two-goal cushion, capped its offensive output early in the second half when senior Sam Martins (Dartmouth, Mass.) drilled a penalty kick past a diving Tolman at 47:41. The penalty kick was Martins' first tally of the season.
The Leopards concluded the match with 23 shots, including 14 on net. Cicalis paced the Black and Gold with four shots (three on net) and freshman Matthew Sekerak (Winthrop, Maine) bumped his mark to 3-0 between the pipes. Sekerak turned away five shots, while Tolman denied 11 attempts. Wentworth held an advantage in corners, three to two, and Johnson & Wales concluded the match with 18 shots.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday, September 9 when Wentworth travels to Massachusetts Maritime Academy for a 7:00 p.m. kick-off, while Johnson & Wales hosts U.S. Coast Guard Academy at 4:00 p.m.
