BSUBears lose to MMA Bucs', Men's Soccer

BSUBears lose to MMA Bucs’, Men’s Soccer

10/23/2013

This past Saturday, the Bridgewater State University men’s soccer team fell short in a 1-0 overtime thriller against the Buccaneers of Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

About three minutes into overtime, Bucs senior defender, Asa Mills, was able to slip a shot past Bears’ goalie and captain, senior Matt Bagley.

The Bears bounced back though with a 1-0 win Tuesday night against the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth to improve their record to 6-7-2.

Sophomore midfielder Sawyer Fleck scored the lone goal for the Bears in the 60th minute against the Corsairs.

Senior goalie Matt Bagley goes up in the air to punch the ball away from his net. Jeremy Foote – Photo

Against Mass. Maritime, the Bears started the game off strong with multiple looks at the net, but could not capitalize in the first half.

They had a total of 14 shots throughout the game, and seven of which were shots on goal.

Bucs’ goalie, freshman Joe Cohen, stopped five of those shots in the first half, and the Bears were visibly frustrated.

“I thought we were carrying the play pretty well, and I think at times we got a little frustrated not scoring goals,” said Bridgewater State head coach Brendan Adams. “I think we got plenty of opportunities, we just weren’t able to put the ball in the back of the net.”

Throughout the second half, the Bears, once again had some good looks at the net, but Mass. Maritime was able to defend their scoring attempts.

One of the Bears’ best scoring chances came from senior team captain Craig Shadduck midway through the second half.

Shadduck had a strong shot at the net during a free kick, but once again, Cohen made a nice catch save.

Shadduck, along with senior forwards Dave Wilson and Colin Neri were responsible for most of the scoring opportunities and time of possession for the Bears, but they just could not convert chances into goals.

“We played well, but couldn’t cash in on our opportunities,” said Wilson. “This is one of our better games played, we just couldn’t score, and found ourselves in a tough spot in overtime.”

Even though the Bears moved the ball well throughout the game, the offense came up short by failing to score.

“I played alright, made some hard runs, but couldn’t put the ball in the net, so that’s what I have to work on for the next game,” said Neri. “We moved the ball well today, better than usual, but we just couldn’t finish. We still have things to work on and we need to improve and get it next time.”

Adams stressed the team needs to avoid overtime, and must improve to finish the season strong before the postseason.

“We can do better, we got some work to do,” said Adams. “Every game is an overtime game. It’s our own fault; we’ll get back to the drawing board and try to score some goals.”

WIth the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament set to begin on November 5, Bridgewater State is currently in second place as they hope to be strong contenders in the postseason.

Matt Melia is a Comment contributor. Editor-In-Chief Greg Dudek edited this story. Email him at gdudek@student.bridgew.edu.

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