KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Oct. 3, 2023) - The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's soccer team played their best game of the 2023 season with a 4-0 triumph over Sarah Lawrence College. USMMA's fourth straight victory over the Gryphons dating back to 2019 improved the Mariners to 2-4-5 (2-0-3 Skyline) while Sarah Lawrence dropped to 3-6 (2-3 Skyline). More importantly, the win catapulted Kings Point past the Gryphons into fifth place in the Skyline Conference standings.
Game Links
Coming off their first shutout of the season on Saturday against Manhattanville, Merchant Marine kept up their stellar man-to-man defense versus the Gryphons. USMMA dominated the midfield and rarely allowed Sarah Lawrence to break into the offensive zone.
The Mariners' strong defense led to a potent offense as the Mariners tickled the twine early and often in the first half. Off a patented throw in from junior
Derek Vanasse (Camarillo, Calif.), sophomore
Billy Castoro (Garden City, N.Y.) headed the heaved ball towards the net. Junior
Jason Healey (King George, Va.) banged in the loose change at the 5:31 mark of the first half for his second goal of the season.
With their speed game humming, the Mariners struck again less than seven minutes later. Senior
Miguel Millan (Lake Travis, Texas) showed his vintage form by racing up the far sideline with the ball on a string. Millan found a wide open Vanasse streaking down the middle of the field and delivered a perfect pass. Vanasse buried his first goal of the season and the second of his career. In a blink, the Mariners were up 2-0.
Despite the multi-goal lead, the Mariners kept their foot on the gas. Merchant Marine peppered Gryphons' goalkeeper Kian Silva with 13 shots in the first half, seven of which were on goal. One of those seven shots on goal came off the right foot of freshman
Noe Macias (Lansing, Mich.). In what was perhaps the most bizarre goal of the season, Macias recorded his first career tally after his shot was blocked, bounced high in the air, and past the goalkeeper Silva to make it 3-0 Mariners.
Having allowed only six shots in the opening 45 minutes head coach
Drew McCarthy's club was sitting pretty at halftime still holding that 3-0 advantage. Coach McCarthy preaches holding your marks and guarding your man and his Mariners have certainly received the message as of late.
As the game rolled into half number two, USMMA only strengthened their defensive play as they held the Gryphons to two shots in the entire second half. Ever since the September 27 game where they allowed two goals to the St. Joseph's – Brooklyn Bears, the Mariners defense has been lights out and made the job of senior goalkeeper
Ashton Carey (Pasadena, Md.) a very easy one. Carey's five saves helped lead his team to their first shutout win since the Skyline Semifinals last year versus Farmingdale State.
To cap off their strongest game of the season, freshman
Andrew Jung (Fairfax, Va.) deposited a perfect pass from sophomore
Wes Ferry (Newport, N.C.) to extend USMMA's lead to 4-0. Jung's third goal of his plebe season was of the highlight variety as he sent an unstoppable rocket into the top of the net.
Merchant Marine will look to earn consecutive victories for the first time this season when they travel to Mount Saint Vincent on Thursday night, Oct. 5. USMMA's date with the Dolphins will be the make-up game from the rainout on September 23. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
