BOSTON, Mass. – Senior midfielder Dave Fustino (Meriden, Conn.) and senior forward Elliott Richmond (Amherst, Mass.) each tallied goals while classmate Brian Pearsall (Sanford, Maine) tied the program record for career shutouts with his 13th, despite not needing to make a save, as the Wentworth men's soccer team defeated Colby-Sawyer, 2-0, in the regular season finale for both teams.
The host Leopards, who controlled play early, appeared to take a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute; however an offside call negated the goal. Wentworth would break the ice with 2:00 left in the opening stanza when senior midfielder Nick Brown (Somerset, Mass.) sent a low pass across the box that Fustino one-timed to the lower left of the net. The Leopards held a 10-1 shot advantage after 45:00.
Colby-Sawyer had its best chance to even the game in the 57th minute, when a collision between a Charger player and Pearsall left an empty net. However, a shot from 15 yards out hit the left post and the Leopards were able to clear the rebound.
With 10:08 remaining, senior defender Dario Correia (Lakeville, Mass.) sent a pass to Richmond, who dribbled into the box. His shot just eluded Colby-Sawyer junior netminder Will Berry (Berlin, Vt.) and went into the lower right side of the goal.
Berry made nine stops for the Chargers, including three at point-blank range that kept his team in the game. Wentworth outshot Colby-Sawyer, 20-7, for the game.
The win snaps a two-game losing streak for the Leopards, who close the regular season with a 9-8-0 overall record and finish tied for sixth with Colby-Sawyer in The Commonwealth Coast Conference play with 21 points (7-6-0). The Leopards own the head-to-head tiebreaker and will travel to third-seeded Gordon on Saturday at 1:00 for the opening round of TCCC Tournament. Colby-Sawyer ends the regular season with a 7-9-3 (6-4-3 TCCC) record and the seventh-seeded Chargers will be at second-seeded Western New England on Saturday at a time to be determined.
