WPI Nets Share of City Tournament Title With 1-1 Draw Against Worcester State
Worcester, MA --- WPI and visiting Worcester State played to a 1-1 tie in a men's soccer match on the final day of the sixth annual Worcester City Tournament on Sunday at Alumni Field. The Engineers, led by tournament MVP senior Chris Ciampa (Danvers, MA), captured at least a share of tournament championship for the third consecutive year while the Lancers moved to 0-0-2 on the young season.
WPI shared the title with Clark, who defeated Becker 6-0 in the nightcap. Both the Engineers and Cougars finished 1-0-1 in the weekend event. The tie snapped WPI's nine-game City Tournament winning streak but extended its unbeaten string in the event to 10 games.
With the score knotted at 1-1, WPI freshman Matt Farrell's (Groveland, MA) bid was turned away by sophomore netminder Nick Zucco (Ludlow, MA) at 68:01. After an over 80 minute weather delay due to a strong thunderstorm, the Engineers had another great shot in the 89th minute but Zucco swatted away a scoring attempt by Ciampa.
Worcester State had a pair of great chances in the first overtime session when freshman Tanner Bzdel (Southampton, MA) rattled off a trio of shots – two on net – in a wild scramble in front of the net in the 96th minute.
Lancer senior Brian Cormier (Hudson, MA) connected on a feed from junior Tyler Stanton (Springfield, MA) to put the guests on the board late in the 25th minute. Cormier deposited the ball in the top right corner of the net for his first of the year. The Lancers doubled up WPI 8-4 on shots and 4-2 on corner kicks in the opening half.
Following the break, WPI was awarded a penalty kick 50 seconds into the frame. Ciampa converted the opportunity for his fifth goal of the season and second penalty kick in as many contests. The hosts outshot the Lancers 10-1 while Worcester State took two of the three corner kicks in the stanza.
For the game, WPI claimed a slim 17-14 edge in shots as Worcester State was awarded six of the 11 corner kicks.
Senior goalkeeper Jeff Wong (Millington, NJ) stopped three shots while Zucco finished with nine saves.
In the second game of the day, freshman Zack Blais (Tiverton, RI) accounted for two Clark goals as the Cougars defeated Becker 6-0. With the win, Clark (1-0-1) claimed a share of the tournament crown along with WPI while Becker fell to 0-2 on the year.
The Cougars jumped out to a 2-0 lead within the first 15 minutes of the game. Freshman Vinny Morra (Setauket, NY) kicked things off when he tucked a pass from sophomore Kyle Russo (Westford, MA) into the left corner at 11:38. Less than two minutes later, freshman Jon Sigal(Rehoboth, MA) sent a corner kick to senior Aaron Segura (Wooster, Ohio) who headed the ball over the Becker netminder.
Clark added two more scores in the first half courtesy of a penalty kick marker by senior Kenneth Vera (Franklin Square, NY) in the 23rd minute and Blais' first of the afternoon in the 40th minute.
Freshman Tim Rovnak (Portland, ME) teamed with classmate Nate Biedak (Taunton, MA) just 43 ticks into the second half before Blais planted the ball in the lower right corner of the net at the 71:21 mark.
Clark finished with an eye-popping 25-1 shot differential and took all nine corner kicks in the game. Becker junior Alexander Shtarr (Brooklyn, NY) received credit for the only Hawk shot. His attempt caromed off the post early on in the match.
Sophomore Robert Bischof (Tarrytown, NY) and rookie Alistair Richardson (Tolland, CT) each went untested in their respective 45-minute shift between the pipes for the Cougars. Senior Tim MacDonald (Holden, MA) stopped eight shots in the setback.
WPI remains at home for a 1:30pm game on Saturday against Framingham State. Worcester State hosts Rhode Island College at 7pm on Wednesday. Clark entertains Worcester County foe Nichols on Tuesday at 6pm. Becker hits the road for Buzzards Bay for a 6pm match at Mass. Maritime on Wednesday.
