DANBURY, Conn. - Senior George Cortes (Fairfield, Conn.) notched two goals and an assist to lead the Western Connecticut State University Wolves to a 6-3 victory over the visiting Kean University Cougars in men's soccer action this afternoon at Westside Stadium.  WestConn improves to 9-3-2 overall wth its goal total since an 8-0 win over Pratt on October 26, 2022.  Kean drops to 2-7-4.  The Wolves, ranked No. 7 in its NCAA Region, will visit the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Corsairs on Saturday at 1 p.m.

WestConn trailed, 1-0, early thanks to the first of two goal by Kean senior forward Donte East who stole the ball in the Wolves' backfield and quickly beat WestConn senior goalie Matt Silva (Danbury, Conn.) for the first goal of the game in the ninth minute of play.  WestConn answered quickly, however, on a header by junior Ian Mounts (Middletown, Conn.) who headed a lofting ball from deep on the left side by freshman Nickolas Santana (New Haven, Conn.) towards the left of the goal and it bouced and spun backwards into the net to tie the game 11:08 into the first half.  Cortes fed Wolves senior Maximus Vigo (Canton, Mich.) from the right side for another header into the net 2:41 later to give the home team a 2-1 lead.

Cortes scored twice in the first 16 minutes of the second half, the first when sophomore Enzo LaGrassa-Gillet (North Bay Village, Fla.) headed a long kick by senior Daniel Russo (Trumbull, Conn.) that Cortes used his own head to put into the net in the 47th minute.  Cortes scored again on yet another header in the 60th minute on Russo's second assist, but East cut the Cougar deficit to 4-2 with his second marker less than two minutes later.  WestConn put the game away with two more goals over the next 13 minutes scored by freshman Nicola Acocella (Harrison, N.Y.) and junior Romario Bunjaj (Mahopac, N.Y.).  Harrison Shaller scored in the 82nd minute for Kean.

Sophomore midfielder Jeffrey Norales (Bronx, N.Y.) joined Russo with two assists for WestConn, while Wolves freshman goalkeeper Michael Arcuri (Staten Island, N.Y.) recorded five saves in the second half.  Bunjaj's goal was his first for the Wolves and rookie Manny Catarino (Danbury, Conn.) notched his first career point with an assist on Acocella's marker.  Dominic Ridge and Alexander Cruz combined for five stops in the Cougar goal.  WestConn finished with a 17-to-13 shooting edge and had five corner kicks to four for Kean.