WORCESTER --- WPI men's soccer's
Mike Montabana (Jamison, PA) and
Evan Haas (Concord, NH) registered goals just two minutes and eleven seconds apart in the second half to secure the 2-0 victory in WPI's home opener on Labor Day.
WPI improves to 2-0 on the young season as Anna Maria slips to 1-1.
The Crimson and Gray and the visiting Amcats quickly traded shots as
Jason Hrkach (Lexington, MA) and Montabana struck first. Anna Maria's
Benjamin Le (Hamburg, Germany) put a ball on frame that was steered away by WPI's
Savio Ketnouvong (Paxton, MA) all within the first 4:42 of the contest.
WPI continued to outshoot the Amcats by a 7-2 margin as
Noah Amorim (Weymouth, MA) had the next look for the Engineers at 16:54 that was saved by
Romain Baert (Tourcoing, France.
Chris Zeppieri (Gainesville, FL) tested Ketnouvong once again with a shot on target at 34:40 as
Brady Burch (South Deerfield, MA) just over a minute later from 25 yards out that was corralled by Baert. Amorim then collected a rebound from a ball that was punched out by Anna Maria's keeper and dropped in one final look from deep but was saved as the squads headed to break in a scoreless stalemate.
Tora Ito (Hopkinton, MA) and Montabana registered shots early in the second half leading up to an Anna Maria foul in the box that set up Montabana for a penalty kick opportunity where placed the ball into the top right corner for the first goal of the contest at 47:28. The Engineers continued to push offensively as they took advantage of a free kick from Amorium who placed a ball into the box and was booted in by Haas to extend the lead to 2-0 just 2:11 later. WPI then added four more shots throughout the remainder of the contest but held tight for the home opening victory.
Ketnouvong now sits at 2-0 with another clean sheet after saving both shots faced on the afternoon as WPI outshot the Amcats, 17-3. Baerts slips to 0-1 with four saves on six faced shots.
Both teams return to the pitch on Saturday for contests as WPI continues its homestay hosting RPI at 2:30pm and Anna Maria will continue its road trip heading to Bridgewater State for a conference matchup slated for 12pm.
