Engineers Motor to 6-0 win over Men's Soccer

WORCESTER – Matt Farrell and Kurt Naugler netted goals 67 seconds apart early in the contest to propel host WPI to a 6-0 victory in a non-conference men's soccer contest played Tuesday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Engineers held a 33-7 edge in shots and attempted 10 of the game's 13 corner kicks.  Christopher Mattioli (Sturbridge, Mass.) and James Bowhile (Worcester, Mass.) combined for all seven of the Anna Maria shots with five and two respectively.

SCORING

First Half: Farrell got WPI into the scoring column at the 5:03 mark when he one-touched a cross from Anthony Vigliotta into the bottom right for his 15th career goal.  The Engineers quickly extended their lead at 6:10 as Naugler took a pass from Zach Chapman and buried a shot from the top left of the box.

The hosts took a 3-0 advantage into the locker room at intermission after John Cerce took a feed from Frank Ciliberto and tallied his first career marker at 30:44.

Second Half: WPI added three additional tallies in the second half.  Ryan Stokes bent in a direct kick from 25 yards out in the 58th minute while Ben Nickerson and Spencer Ralphs added insurance goals 21 second apart in the 72nd minute with Tyler Donovan doling out an assist on Nickerson's.

GOALKEEPERS

It was a day of firsts for the Boynton Hill netminder Chris Xavier (Essex, MA).  The sophomore made one save en route to registering his first career win and shutout in his first-ever start for the Engineers.

Elliot Kuzma (East Haven, Conn.) and Patrick Thornberg (Wayland, Mass.) each saw time in net for the AMCATS.  Kuzma made eight stops during the first half and the final 27:20 of the game while Thornberg played the opening 17:40 of the second stanza in between the pipes.

WHAT'S NEXT

WPI (11-5-2) turns its attention to its regular season finale on Saturday at MIT at 5pm.  The Crimson and Gray will clinch a spot in next week's NEWMAC Tournament with either a win or tie versus Cambridge's Engineers or with a Coast Guard loss or tie to Springfield (11:30am).  Anna Maria sees its season conclude with a 3-12-1 record.