Hartford, CT --- Senior goalkeeper
Brendan Ross (Winchester, MA) made a career-best 12 saves, including six in the opening half, but Trinity scored three times after halftime to defeat WPI men's soccer 3-0 Monday evening at Trinity Soccer Field.
The Engineers move to 0-4-3 on the season and remain 0-0-1 in the NEWMAC, while the Bantams improve to 4-2-0 overall.
Trinity controlled much of the opening half, but Ross repeatedly kept the Crimson and Gray within striking distance. The senior turned aside five shots during the first 25 minutes before denying
Cameron Linehan (Chevy Chase, MD) in the 39th minute to send the teams into halftime scoreless. WPI recorded two shots during the opening 45 minutes, with
Jason Hrkach (Lexington, MA) putting one attempt wide and
Anir AitDowd (Harvard, MA) sending another over the crossbar.
The Bantams finally broke through in the 54th minute when Linehan headed home a cross from
Jack Murphy (Alexandria, VA) and
Sebastian Martinez-Moule (Lexington, MA) at 53:54. Murphy doubled the advantage just under six minutes later, converting a penalty kick at 59:31. Trinity added its third goal at 75:10 when
Sam Duncanson (Manlius, NY) finished a feed from Murphy.
WPI looked to generate more offensively following the intermission, with Hrkach forcing Trinity goalkeeper
Jake Davis (San Diego, CA) into a save 2:29 into the second half.
Michael Montabana (Jamison, PA) also put a shot on target at 55:03, but Davis made the stop. The Engineers continued to press late, with
Liam Laidlaw (Fayston, VT) and
Cooper Biederbeck (Essex, VT) each recording attempts in the final three minutes.
Ross finished with 12 saves for the Engineers, including six in each half. Davis made two saves to record the shutout for Trinity.
Trinity finished with a 22-9 advantage in shots and placed 15 attempts on target compared to two for WPI. The Bantams also held a 7-2 edge in corner kicks. Hrkach led WPI with three shots, while Montabana, Laidlaw and Biederbeck each added one shot on goal or attempt as the Engineers were unable to break through against the Bantams.
WPI travels to Tufts on Saturday for a 1pm non-conference matchup while Trinity is right back at it tomorrow, entertaining Framingham State at 7pm.
