Caggiano records first career shutout in win

            LYNDONVILLE, Vt. – The Plymouth State University men's soccer team tallied single goals in each half to record a 2-0 win over Northern Vermont University-Lyndon in a non-conference game at Varsity Field on Wednesday afternoon.

            Junior goalkeeper Owen Caggiano (Sandwich, Mass.) stopped six shots to earn his first career shutout. The Panthers' offense got off to a quick start when sophomore Paulo Johansson (Falkenberg, Sweden) scored his first career goal just 19 seconds into the game. Senior Dan Shaw (Winchester, England) added an insurance tally on a header in the 72nd minute to seal the win.

            Plymouth State improves to 4-6-3 on the year, while the Hornets drop to 1-12-0.

            The Basics:

            Plymouth State 2, NVU-Lyndon 0

            Plymouth State 4-6-3

            NVU-Lyndon 1-12-0

            How it Happened:

            * Despite the cold and rainy weather, Johansson got the Panthers off to a hot start. He dribbled in and fired a shot past Lyndon goalkeeper Caleb Derbyshire (Barton, Vt.) into the left side of the goal just 19 seconds into the game.

            * Despite taking nine first half shots, only four of the Hornets' attempts were on target and Caggiano was able to deny them all.

            * Plymouth State controlled the action in the second half, outshooting the Hornets by a 14-4 margin.  

            * Shaw put the game away in the 72nd minute when he headed in a perfectly delivered corner kick from junior Cam Bunn (Melbourne, Australia).

            Inside the Numbers:

            * The Panthers took a season-high 25 shots, including 13 on goal, while limiting NVU-Lyndon to 13 shots and only four in the second half.

            * Plymouth State held a narrow, 4-3 edge in corner kicks.

            * Caggiano made six saves to improve to 2-0 on the year, while Derbyshire made 11 stops but fell to 1-7.

            * Plymouth State improves to 2-0-1 against the Hornets. In both wins the Panthers held Lyndon scoreless.

            Straight from the Coach's Mouth:

            "It was nice to get a result in tough conditions, and to create a lot of good scoring opportunities," said head coach Rob Wright. "It was good to see Paulo get his first collegiate goal after a long injury, while Dan added a second and was the standout player on the field."

            Up Next:

            * Plymouth State travels to Norwich for a non-conference game on Monday (Oct. 22) at 7:00 p.m.

            * NVU-Lyndon visits Husson for a North Atlantic Conference (NAC) game Saturday (Oct. 20) at 3:30 p.m.

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