The Plymouth State Men’s Soccer team lost their second consecutive game as non-conference opponent, Wheaton College, shut them out 0-3, Wednesday evening at Keefe Field. This loss preceded their game against non-conference opponent, Roger Williams in a close game, losing 0-1, last Saturday afternoon at Panther Field.
Going into the match, Wheaton College had won eighteen straight games at home, dating back to October 2000 and looked to increase that streak to nineteen as they struck early in the 12 minute mark as Wheaton Senior Dan Antoniuk was taken down in the penalty box. On the following penalty kick, Wheaton Senior Shaun Cavanaugh placed the ball into the left side of the goal, giving Wheaton a 0-1 lead. That tally proved to be the game winner as Wheaton shut out Plymouth 0-3. With the win Wheaton improved to 5-2 on the season. Plymouth was out shot by Wheaton 3-20 as Wheaton Freshman goalkeeper Max Hellman recorded two saves in shut out. Plymouth goalkeeper Brad Wilby recorded five saves in the loss.
In the match against Roger Williams, Hawks forward James Trill, who appeared to be offside, slipped past the Panther defense, receiving the pass from midfield and deposited the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal past Wilby at 87minutes. Besides letting up the late goal, Wilby looked solid in goal making two saves in the loss.
The Panthers however didn’t seem to be playing up to their potential, as they didn’t generate many offensive opportunities through out the match. “We didn’t play well,” says Head Coach Rob Wright on the play of his team. “It’s the second game on the chalk that we’ve played a team who is very limited in how they can hurt us. Who we should be comfortable in beating and we are not playing well enough and earning the right to beat these teams.”
The Panther’s record now drops to 2-3-1 as they look to snap their losing streak when they host Umass-Boston on Saturday, September 28 at Panther Field, in their first Little East Conference action of the season.