Men’s Soccer Rolls Past Wentworth, 4-0

BOSTON – Suffolk men's soccer put away two goals in each half and kept the Leopards off the scoreboard to blank Wentworth, 4-0, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) competition Tuesday night at Sweeney Field.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | Wentworth 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (8-4-2, 3-1-1 CCC) | Wentworth (3-7-3, 1-3-1 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk used Xander Balog to clear the ball from its own zone. The Rams keeper dished ahead to Aiden McLaughlin on the right sideline. The defender sent a long go-ahead pass to Brady Sorensen, who beat Louis Quintero low for the opening goal 8:36 into the action.  

A Leopards defender deflect what would have been a go-ahead pass from Taj Jensen in the opposite direction. Luckily Damon Smargon was there to pick up the rock and sent it high into the upper left corner of the net. The sophomore doubled the distance in the 33rd minute of play.  

Wentworth had a chance to slice the deficit down with less than 46 seconds remaining before the intermission. The Leopards managed to find the back of the twine, however, the goal was whistled off due to offsides and Suffolk took its two-goal edge into the locker room.  

Just over five minutes into the second stanza the Rams continued their offensive output. In a cluster of WIT's defenders Tommy Handelsman found an open Jensen and slipped him a pass. Jensen capitalized on the fact that all the defenders were around Handelsman and took the open shot that zoomed to the top right corner past Quintero to push the gap to three. 

Handelsman had his foot on another goal less than four minutes later. This time the sophomore sent a corner kick into a cluster in front of the Leopards goal that met a leaping Matthew Belluardo. The freshman headed it in to make it a 4-0 Suffolk game in the 55th minute.  

NETMINDERS NOTES

• Balog registered four saves in the shutout. 
• Quintero notched three stops in the setback.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Jensen, Sorensen, Smargon and Belluardo are responsible for Suffolk's four goals with one marker apiece. 
• Handelsman dished out two assists. 
• Balog and McLaughlin each had one helper. 
• Suffolk outshot Wentworth, 14-11, including a 7-4 advantage in shots on target. 
• The Leopards took three corners compared to the Rams two.  

NOTEWORTHY

• The Rams snapped a four-game skid against Wentworth. 
• Suffolk defeated the Leopards for the first time since Sept. 25, 1997, a 2-1 win. 
• Suffolk defeated WIT in CCC action for the first time. 
• The Rams move to 5-7-2 all-time against Wentworth. 
• Suffolk is now 3-4-1 when playing at Wentworth. 
• With tonight's decision six games have now been decided in shutout fashion in the series. Suffolk is 3-3 in cleansheets versus WIT. 
• Suffolk blanked Wentworth for the first time since 1-0-win Sept. 21, 1995. 
• The four goals scored versus WIT are the second-most in the all-time series for Suffolk. Most since the blue-and-gold netted five in a 5-5, double overtime draw Sept. 19, 1999. 
• The Rams are now 1-2-0 against Wentworth with Bill Maddock on the bench. 
• Suffolk shutout its seventh opponent of the season, matching last season's cleansheet total. 
• Balog recorded his first collegiate point, an assist. 
• Balog is the first keeper to record a point since James Potter tallied one assist in a 4-2 loss at Curry Sept. 25, 2011.
• Handelsman set-up a career-best two shots. 
• Handelsman (1g, 3a), Jensen (1g, 1a), Smargon (1g, 1a) and Sorensen (2g) are on a two-game point streak. 

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk ventures to Curry Friday, Oct. 14 for a 7 p.m. outing.