(Courtesy of Wheaton Athletic Communications)
NORTON, Mass. – The No. 19 Wheaton College (Mass.) men's soccer team scored both of its goals in the second half of a 2-0 victory over visiting Salve Regina University this afternoon in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference season opener at Keefe Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Massachusetts.
The Lyons, who are ranked in the most recent United Coaches Soccer national poll, improve to 4-0-3 overall and 1-0 in league. The Seahawks fall to 2-3-1 and 0-1-0.
Wheaton is unbeaten in 31 of its last 33 contests, dating back to 2024. Lyons dominated possession with a 23-4 shot margin, including 15-2 in the second half. Despite the shooting volume, Wheaton's advantage in shots on goal was just 6-2. The Lyons were awarded six of the seven corner kicks in the game.
Following nearly 63 minutes of scoreless soccer, Wheaton got the crowd's attention with an exciting marker to put it on the board. Senior back
Jacques Violette (Madison, Conn.) lifted a cross to the front of the net that was met by a diving header from
Charlie Cushing (Eastham, Mass.) for his fourth goal of the year and a 1-0 edge for the Lyons.
Wheaton padded its lead with a score coming less than 10 minutes later to make it 2-0. Junior back
Austin Hoadley (South Kent, Conn.) tossed a throw-in from the left side into the box, where senior back
Owen Kane (Pembroke, Mass.) met the ball with a header ticketed to the goal mouth, where sophomore
Gabriel Rodriguez (Queens, N.Y.) crashed the net for his first collegiate goal in the 73rd minute of play.
Junior striker
Ty Ferris (Ridgewood, N.J.) and senior back
Michael Bagley (Trumbull, Conn.) each registered a shot on net for Salve Regina.
Sophomore keeper
Patrick Butler (Glastonbury, Conn.) posted his fourth shutout of the season with two saves for the Lyons, while junior goalie
Adonis Santiago (Oakdale, Conn.) turned away four shots for the Seahawks.Â
Wheaton returns to the pitch on Tuesday, September 22 when it hosts Brandeis University at 3:30 p.m. on Keefe Field, while Salve Regina heads to Providence, R.I. on the same day to take on Johnson & Wales University at 6:00 p.m.
Â
