Box Score DANBURY, CONN. - In a driving rainstorm, the Western Connecticut State University men's soccer team, behind goals from a pair of seniors
Ricardo Rodriguez (Danbury, Conn.) and
Matthew Restrepo (Bridgeport, Conn.) and sophomore
Franz Muhaj (Bridgeport, Conn.), defeated Vassar College, 3-1 at the Westside Athletic Complex Wednesday night.
Rodriguez put WestConn up in the 14th minute when he put away a pass from
Daniel Russo (Trumbull, Conn.).
With 8:28 remaining in the first half, Muhaj, the 2019 Little East Conference Rookie of the Year, tallied an unassisted goal past Brewers net minder Eric Wnorowski (Mantoloking, N.J.). The score would hold through intermission and the host held a 6-1 advantage in shots over Vassar at the break. WestConn finished the game with a 16-7 bulge in shot attempts.
Restrepo put WestConn up, 3-0, after he collected a deflection off an initial shot from freshman
Kadin Talho (Waterbury, Conn.) and buried it in the onion bag.
Vassar's Derek Sando (Rockwall, Tex.) put the Brewers on the scoreboard when he tucked the ball in the lower left corner off a free kick just outside the 18-yard box.
Senior goalie
Daniel Szabo (Trumbull, Conn.) made two saves, all in the second half of play, for the winners before yielding his duties to sophomore
Justin Figueiredo (Danbury, Conn.). Figueiredo made a pair of saves over the final nine minutes.
Wnorowski made eight stops for Vassar.
WestConn travels to North Adams, Mass. on Saturday, September 4, for a first-round meeting with Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in a two-day tournament. Game time is set for 2 pm.