KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Oct. 8, 2023) – Coming into Sunday's game, Western Connecticut State University was 30-1-4 dating back to the 2022 season, but despite being outshot by the Wolves, 20-5, the USMMA men's soccer team pulled off the upset over WestConn, 1-0, on a beautiful fall day at Tomb Field. With the win, the Mariners improve to 3-4-6 overall on the season, while WCSU falls to 10-2-2 in defeat.
Game Links
The Wolves were ranked 13th in the nation in scoring offense with nearly 3.0 goals per game and were third among all Division III teams in goal differential with 56 more goals than opponents. However, the Merchant Marine defense was up to the task.
The duo of Mariner keepers – senior
Ashton Carey (Pasadena, Md.) and freshman
Ethan Howell (Alexandria, Va.) – combined for the shutout, with Carey making two saves in the first half and Howell stopping three in the second half to record his first collegiate victory. Howell's first two stops both came in the 58th minute and were on quality scoring chances for WestConn.
Despite the huge difference in shots, the Mariners had a good number of chances in the second half, including a shot in the 47th minute by junior
Derek Vanasse (Camarillo, Calif.) in the middle of the box that was blocked by a defender at the last second, and then a shot by freshman
Patrick Novotny (Fort Worth, Texas) in the 64th minute that went just wide.
Just under a minute later, junior
Jason Healey (King George, Va.) found the back of the net for what wound up standing as the game-winner in the 65th minute. He finished off a one-timer off a pass by Novotny.
For WCSU, sophomore keeper Zachary Benson suffered the loss and made one save over the 90 minutes of action.
The Mariners are back at it this coming Wednesday night, Oct. 11, when they return to Skyline Conference play on the road up at Mount Saint Mary College. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Knights' Kaplan Field. Live stats and a live video feed of the game will be available with links on
the USMMA Men's Soccer Schedule Page.
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