Gorham, Maine - Junior
Nickolas Santana (New Haven, Conn.) scored the game's only goal to lead the visiting Western Connecticut State University over the University of Southern Maine Huskies, 1-0, in Little East Conference (LEC) men's soccer action this afternoon at Hannaford Field. WestConn improves to 10-3-3 overall and stays perfect in the LEC at 6-0 and the Huskies move to 4-5-4 overall and 1-2-2 in the league. The Wolves will be back in action at home on Tuesday when they take on the United States Merchant Marine Academy at 7 p.m. WestConn is unbeaten against the Huskies since 2011 (14-0-1).
The Wolves grabbed an early lead when Santana scored from straight-on, unassisted in the 17th minute of play. Southern Maine's offense was aggressive early, forcing Wolves freshman goalkeeper
Aime Ruggles (Bronx, N.Y.) to make three saves in the first half, but the teams combined for just one shot-on-goal after Santana's marker. WestConn senior midfielder
Jeffrey Norales (Bronx, N.Y.) delivered the blast in the 25th minute but was stopped by Husky senior goalkeeper
Gabe Wagner (Freeport, Maine). Ruggles came through twice more early in the second stanza, including a diving save on a header by Southern Maine's Alex Graver. WestConn sophomore
Matthews Rocha (Danbury, Conn.) nearly scored off his head in the 73rd minute, while Ruggles preserved the clean sheet with his sixth and seventh saves down the stretch. Wagner finished with four stops for Southern Maine.
