BSU Soccer End the Regular Season in Victory
Andrew Higginbottom
Staff Writer
Bridgewater State senior captain, Conor Murtagh (#23), knocks the ball down to himself during a 2-1 win in the regular season finale against Worcester St.
Bridgewater State University (BSU) men’s soccer concluded their regular season in triumph after their recent 2-0 victory against Worcester State last Saturday. The squad ended the regular season with a remarkable record of 14-3-1, including 7-0 in the MASCAC.
Head Coach Brendan Adams expressed his gratitude for this year’s team following the victory.
“The guys came in and played great all season long which was great to see. The record was fantastic to see as well because the hard work the guys put in, they got to see the results,” said Coach Adams. “The team was pretty experienced coming in and then when you blend in some quality first-year players, it made for an enjoyable year.”
The Bears hosted the Worcester State Owls at Swenson Field for their final regular season match on Saturday, October 31.
The first half of play failed to electrify the crowd after each team’s imposing defense kept the game scoreless. BSU junior goalkeeper Colin Jepson was in pursuit of receiving his 11th shutout, which would break the record for most shutouts in BSU soccer’s history.
Up and coming freshman midfielder Kane Moran almost got the momentum going with a header five minutes into the second half after receiving a corner, however the Owls sophomore goalkeeper Jason Barrett lunged to make a tremendous stop.
Finally, 60 minutes into the game, senior forward Conor Murtagh, a name that BSU soccer fans heard a lot this season, sent a header into the net after receiving a perfect cross from freshman forward Filipe Gomes. This score increased Murtagh’s goals scored tally to 14, which makes the skilled forward the leader in the conference in that category.
Murtagh discussed the achievement after the win.“It’s definitely a great accomplishment and couldn’t have been possible without the boys not just playing on the field but pushing the starters in practice,” said Murtagh.
After Murtagh’s goal, there were prominent opportunities for both sides to score. The Owls were striving to tie the game up, while the Bears wanted to reassure the victory.
With less than five minutes to play in regulation, freshman standout Gomes beat the keeper to score an open net shot after receiving a pass from freshman forward Jameson Bradley to guarantee the win.
BSU’s goalkeeper, Jepson, with the help of Bear’s outstanding defense left Worcester State scoreless. The 2-0 win over the Owls gave Jepson the record breaking achievement for most shutouts in a season in BSU history.
The win clinched a spot for the soccer squad in next week’s MASCAC tournament. Bridgewater is seeded #5 in the tournament, and will be playing away in the upcoming match-up against #4 Mass Maritime.
Coach Adams discussed the approaching game against the Mass Maritime Buccaneers.
“Well, Mass Maritime is always very tough and so the expectation stays the same as we had during the regular season,” said Adams, “It will be a one-goal game that will go either way, we just have to go out and play our best and hope that it is good enough.”
BSU took care of business in their quarterfinal matchup of the MASCAC tournament Tuesday evening in a 3-2 double overtime victory capped off by freshman Kane Moran’s golden goal. Seniors Kolin Campbell and Andrew Chenard added the two other scores for the Bears.
The Bears will travel to Westfield to play Westfield State University in a semifinal match Friday, Nov. 6 in the MASCAC tournament.
Andrew Higginbottom is a Staff Writer for The Comment.
