Bates shuts out PSU Men’s Soccer
PLYMOUTH, N.H. - Sophomore goalkeeper Greg Watts (West Chester, Pa.) made several nice saves Wednesday afternoon to help Bates College preserve the shutout in a 2-0 victory over Plymouth State University in an evenly-matched non-conference men's soccer game at Panther Field.
The Bobcats got an early goal from senior Ben Trook (Weston, Mass.) and a late goal from freshman Ethan Hirschberg (Concord, N.H./Phillips Andover) to earn their first victory of the season (1-3). PSU was shut out for the second straight game and falls to 4-2 overall.
Bates broke onto the scoreboard first when PSU freshman keeper Bjorn Ohlsson (Halmstad, Sweden) made a nice save on a direct kick, but Trook cleaned up the play to give the Bobcats the lead. That ended up as the only offense of the first half, although PSU had a pair of scoring chances as Watts made two nice saves off shots by PSU freshman Aly El Tambouly (Cairo, Egypt) and junior Tommy Schrey (Munich, Germany/Alvirne, N.H.)
The Bobcats nearly extended their lead midway through the second half when junior Patrick Jackson (Durham, N.H./Oyster River) broke in alone, but Ohlsson made a nice save. PSU had a good opportunity to even the score with three minutes remaining when sophomore Dre Cabral (Tokyo, Japan) got off a clean shot from the top of the box, but Watts was there for the save.
The visitors sealed the victory with just under a minute remaining when Hirschberg broke in alone through the Panther defense and beat Ohlsson one-on-one.
Ohlsson finished with five saves and Watts with four. PSU had a slight 11-9 advantage in shots and a 7-2 margin in corner kicks.
PSU makes a two-game road trip to Maine this weekend, facing the University of Southern Maine in a Little East Conference game Saturday at 1:00 p.m., and Husson College in a non-conference encounter Sunday at 12 noon. Bates returns home to host Trinity College Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in a New England Small College Athletic Conference match-up.
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