DANBURY, Conn. - After notching the Little East Conference crown in 2024, the Western Connecticut State University men's soccer team opened the 2025 slate with a 5-2 setback to visiting non-conference opponent Vassar College on Friday evening at the Westside Athletic Complex.

Senior midfielder Ian Mounts (Middletown, Conn.) and rookie forward Jokin Martinez (Jamaica, N.Y.) netted goals for the Wolves. Sophomore midfielder Arden Tobolski (Chapel Hill, NC) paced the Brewers with a pair of goals while seniors Jared Fiske (Livingston, N.J.), Diego Pastor-Valverde (Durham, NC) and rookie Isaac Taegar (Metuchen, N.J) each found the back of the twine.

The hosts looked sharp early. However, two high quality scoring opportunities were halted due to a pair of offsides. Tobolski got the visitors on the board when he wrapped a corner kick into the back of the net off a deflection less than 14 minutes into play. WestConn answered in the 32nd minute when Mounts took a pretty pass from sophomore midfielder Nickolas Santana (New Haven, Conn.) and netted his first goal of the campaign, evening the count at 1-1. However, Fiske and Tobolski answered with a pair of scoring strikes less than seven minutes apart, giving Vassar a 3-1 lead heading into halftime. 

The Brewers widened the gap to 4-1 early in the second stanza when Taegar chipped a shot into the open side of the net off a short cross from sophomore midfielder Clem Grossman (Cold Spring, N.Y.). The Wolves answered when Martinez netted his first career goal, slicing the advantage to 4-2. However, the visitors extended the lead to 5-2 just moments later when Pastor-Valverde blasted a point-blank direct kick just inside the right post, rounding the count out at 5-2.

With the win, Vassar improved to 1-0 while WestConn fell to 0-1. The Wolves will look to rebound when they host non-league foe Drew University on Wednesday at 7 p.m.