KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Oct. 25, 2022) – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's soccer team closed out their regular season in dramatic fashion with a 2-1 victory over the Purchase College Panthers on Tuesday night at Bartoszek Field. USMMA closed the regular season on a three-game winning streak to go into the playoffs with a record of 9-4-5 overall and 6-1-4 in Skyline play. Purchase in defeat finished the season 7-10 overall and 3-8 in conference action.
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In what was a must-win for the Mariners in terms of seeding, Merchant Marine and Purchase both came out playing conservatively in the opening 45 minutes. Shots at halftime were 4-2 in favor of the Mariners, who also led in shots on goal 2-1. USMMA's best chance came off a free kick from freshman
John Germain (Cornwall, N.Y.) who was robbed on a diving save by Purchase goalkeeper Travis Stella.
As the second half began tied 0-0, the Mariners knew they could ill afford a tie. If Merchant Marine wanted to secure a higher seed and a home game in the first round of the Skyline Tournament, they would need to come out winners over the Panthers.
Prior to the game, head coach
Drew McCarthy highlighted two players he expected to have a huge impact on leading the Mariners to victory in such a crucial game. McCarthy singled out senior
Connor Damaré (Slidell, La.) and freshman
Derek Vanasse (Camarillo, Calif.). Damaré's high-energy and strong communication skills were cited by USMMA's head coach as to why he earned the start in a massive game. McCarthy noted Vanasse's throw-in ability as a weapon on offense, and boy did the Mariners' head coach hit the nail on the head twice.
With just under 40:20 remaining, junior
Miguel Millan (Lake Travis, Texas) took a shot that was not handled clearly by Stella. Guess who was in the right spot right time thanks to his good communication with Millan: Damaré. Damaré drilled home the rebound for his fourth goal of season with 40:13 on the clock to put USMMA in front 1-0.
Merchant Marine clamped down defensively as the clock wound under 15 minutes. So defensively that goalkeeper
Chase Miller (Boise, Idaho) took hard contact from Purchase's Noah Siega. That forced junior goalkeeper
Ashton Carey (Pasadena, Md.) to sub in for Miller with 14:42 remaining.
With Miller out of the game, Purchase went pedal-to-the-medal and a shot from Liam George beat Carey to tie the match 1-1 with 9:48 on the clock. USMMA had that much time to try to find the winning goal with their sixth tie of the season not being an option.
Just 59 seconds later, the Mariners struck right back thanks to you guessed it, a Vanasse throw-in. Vanasse's heave from the far side spun right towards the goal and was knocked in by freshman
Billy Castoro (Garden City, N.Y.) with 8:49 on the clock.
Determined to not giveaway the lead again the Mariners shut down the Panthers offense to hold on for the 2-1 victory. The goal by Castoro was his second consecutive game-winner after scoring the only goal in USMMA's 1-0 win over St. Joseph's-Long Island on Saturday. Castoro had not scored a goal in his collegiate career before Saturday, and now has recorded back-to-back game-winning goals to secure a home playoff game for the Mariners.
As the Mariners turn the page to that home playoff game, they will take on the #6-seed Mount St. Vincent Dolphins in Round One of the Skyline Conference Tournament this Sunday afternoon, Oct. 30, beginning at 1 p.m. Tomb Field will be the site of the game. Live stats and a live video feed of the Skyline First-Round contest will be available with links on
the USMMA Men's Soccer Schedule Page.
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