WORCESTER -- Jason Hrkach (Lexington, MA) and Adin Pezo (Everett, MA) both tallied their first collegiate goal to lift the WPI men's soccer team to a 2-0 road shutout of crosstown rival Worcester State on Friday afternoon.  The Engineers survived a pair of nearly one-hour lighting delays - one in each half - to record its second straight season-opening victory over the Lancers after the two teams tied in the 2022 and 2023 season debuts.
 
The Crimson and Gray got on the board in the seventh minute when Fabio Bastida-Andreu (Logroño, Spain) sent a cross through the box from the left side that was misplayed and found the foot of Jason Hrkach (Lexington, MA), who knocked it home for his first career goal at 6:19.
 
Bastida-Andreeu was also a key cog in the second goal.  After the first weather delay, the senior came up with the ball on the right side of the field and rushed towards the net, drawing out the WSU goalkeeper.  Bastida-Andreeu connected with Pazo, who easily found the back of the net to put the visitors ahead 2-0 in the 40th minute.
 
That would be all the Engineers would need as they outshot the hosts 24-8 on the afternoon and earned eight of the match's 10 corner kicks.  Bastida-Andreu was active throughout the match, accounting for a game-high eight shots while teammate Anthony Coutts (Millis, MA) launched four shots on the day.
 
Savio Ketnouvong (Paxton, MA) was credited with four stops en route to his fourth-career solo clean sheet.  Tobias Schneider (Hudson, WI) stopped 12 shots for the hosts.
 
WPI opens the home portion of its 2025 schedule on Monday, hosting Anna Maria in a rare Labor Day matinee tilt.  Kickoff is slated for 1pm.