NEW LONDON, Conn. – Marco Perugini (Medway, Mass.) recorded his first career hat-trick, as the Connecticut College men's soccer team defeated visiting Wesleyan 3-0 on Tuesday night from Silfen Field to close out the regular season.
Both teams recorded one shot in the opening 10 minutes. Dylan Clack put his effort for Wesleyan wide, while Henry Lester (Southwest Harbor, Maine) had his chance blocked.
The game slowed down, before the Camels earned a free kick on the edge of the box with just under 20 minutes remaining. Perugini stepped and delivered a shot to the far post, beating Simon Rebstock to make it 1-0.
The Cardinals answered with the final two shots of the half, but both efforts missed the target, as Conn led 1-0 at the break.
The Camels started the second half quickly, earning a penalty kick just 3:10 into the half. Lester worked his way into the box, and tried to step around Rebstock, but was taken down to give conn the penalty. Perugini stepped up to the spot and calmly delivered the ball into the corner to make it 2-0.
Just four and a half minutes later, Perugini completed his hat trick. Lester slipped a lovely pass onto the foot of Perugini who danced his way and fired to the far post to make it 3-0. Conn continued to push, as Perugini nearly tallied a fourth goal three minutes later, but his effort was denied by Rebstock.
Wesleyan tried to get back into the contest, but was only able to record one shot on target in the final 30 minutes, as Casey Shea (Haworth, N.J.) denied Ford Cash. The Camels closed out the final minutes to pick up the 3-0 win.
Conn outshot Wesleyan 11-5 overall, including 5-1 on shots on target, while Wesleyan held a 5-4 edge on corner kicks.
Shea picked up the clean sheet victory, making one save. Perugini led Conn with all three goals, while Lester chipped in an assist.
Rebstock got the start in net, tallying two saves.
Conn (10-2-3, 5-2-3 NESCAC) will host Tufts on Saturday afternoon on Silfen Field in the NESCAC Quarterfinals at a time to be determined.
