NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College men's soccer team opened the 2024 season with a 3-0 victory over the United States Merchant Marine Academy on Tuesday evening from Silfen Field.
A balanced attack led the Camels as
Rye Jaran (Downingtown, Pa.),
Matt Scoffone (Thornton, Pa.), and
Gavin Mpiana (Cape Town, South Africa) all found the back of the net.
Merchant Marine got the first shot of the contest just over a minute into the match, but the effort went wide, before Scoffone put Conn's first effort on target, but got turned away. Just past the five minute mark,
Jorge Mendo (Zaragoza, Spain) played a ball down the right sideline to
Sam Boehm (Lexington, Mass.) whose low driven cross into the box connected with Scoffone. Scoffone met the ball at the top of the box and drilled a shot past Mariners goalkeeper Ethan Howell to make it 1-0.
Four and a half minutes later
Marco Perugini (Medway, Mass.) played a quick touch pass into the path of Mpiana, who took the shot first time from the edge of the 18-yard box and beat Howell to make it 2-0. Conn dominated for most of the opening 45 minutes but were unable to extend the lead, and headed into the break on top 2-0.
The second half got chippy as both teams were called for numerous fouls, and the teams combined for four yellow cards. The Camels continued to look for a third goal, and finally got it with just over eight minutes to play.
Elliot Spatz (Bellevue, Wash.) worked his way into the box, and laid off a beautiful pass right into the path of Jaran, who beat Howell off the far post and in, giving Conn the 3-0 win.
Conn outshot USMMA 15-8 overall, and held a 7-2 advantage on shots on target, while both sides were awarded three corner kicks.
Peter Silvester (Smiths Parrish, Bermuda) got the start in goal, stopping both shots faced. Jaran, Mpiana, and Scoffone each tallied a marker, while Boehm, Perugini, and Spatz all added a helper.
Howell got the start in goal for the Mariners, recording four saves, as USMMA falls to 1-1 on the year.
Conn (1-0-0 overall) will open NESCAC play at Amherst College on Saturday, September 7 at 2:30 p.m.
