Men’s soccer wins 2-0 at Plymouth State
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Trook |
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Watts |
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Hirshberg |
PLYMOUTH, N.H. — Sophomore goalkeeper Greg Watts (West Chester, Pa.) made several nice saves Wednesday afternoon to help Bates College preserve the shutout in a 2-0 victory over Plymouth State University in a non-conference men’s soccer game Wednesday at Panther Field.
The shutout is the first this season for Watts and the fifth of his career.
The Bobcats got an early goal from senior Ben Trook (Weston, Mass.) and a late goal from first-yar Ethan Hirshberg (Concord, N.H.) to earn their first victory of the season (1-3). PSU was shut out for the second straight game and falls to 4-2 overall.
Bates broke onto the scoreboard first when PSU freshman keeper Bjorn Ohlsson made a nice save on a direct kick, but Trook cleaned up the play to give the Bobcats the lead. That ended up as the only offense of the first half, although PSU had a pair of scoring chances as Watts made two nice saves off shots by PSU freshman Aly El Tambouly and junior Tommy Schrey.
The Bobcats nearly extended their lead midway through the second half when junior Patrick Jackson (Durham, N.H.) broke in alone, but Ohlsson made a nice save. PSU had a good opportunity to even the score with three minutes remaining when sophomore Dre Cabral (Tokyo, Japan) got off a clean shot from the top of the box, but Watts was there for the save.
The visitors sealed the victory with just under a minute remaining, when Hirshberg broke in alone through the Panther defense and beat Ohlsson one-on-one.
Ohlsson finished with five saves and Watts with four. PSU had a slight 11-9 advantage in shots and a 7-2 margin in corner kicks.
Bates returns home to host Trinity College this Homecoming Saturday at 2 p.m. in a NESCAC matchup.
STATS: Bates 2, Plymouth State 0