Falcons Clipped By Buccaneers, 3-2

Wietecha nets first collegiate tally for Green and Gold 

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Fitchburg State men's soccer suffered a tough 3-2 setback to the Buccaneers of Massachusetts Maritime Academy this afternoon in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action from Elliot Field.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 2, Mass. Maritime 3
Records: Fitchburg State (0-4-0, 0-1-0 MASCAC | Mass. Maritime 1-5-0, 1-0-0 MASCAC)

How It Happened

Mass. Maritime opened the scoring at the 27:24 mark of the first half when junior McNeill Somers (Dorchester, Mass.) settled a throw in from senior Shane MacNeil (Braintree, Mass.) and slipped a shot inside the far post for his first goal on the year for the 1-0 lead.

The Buccaneers doubled their margin (2-0) roughly five minutes later as junior Bob Rutkai (Annapolis, Md.) received a pass from sophomore CJ Vincent (Carver, Mass.) and connected on his first tally of the season.

Trailing 3-0, Fitchburg State cut into the deficit in the 41st minute of action with freshman Joshua Wietecha (Chicopee, Mass.) collected a loose ball in front of the net and lofted a shot into the upper left corner for his first collegiate goal off an assist from juniorr Joshua Atemkeng (Peabody, Mass.) to make the score 3-1.

Following the break, the Falcons answered again at the 52:26 mark as senior Raphael Coelho (Framingham, Mass.) fired a shot inside the near post for his first score of the 2021 season of an assist by sophomore Francesco Campione (Newton, Mass.) to cut the lead to 3-2, but that's as close as the Falcons would get as the Buccaneers held on for the 3-2 victory.

Inside the Numbers

• This afternoon's contest marked the first 44th meeting between Fitchburg State and Mass. Maritime on the pitch with the Falcons 24-11-8 all-time when taking on the Buccaneers
• Mass. Maritime held a 15-10 margin in shots, while also finishing with a 6-1 edge in corner kicks
• Wietecha notches first collegiate goal for Falcons
• Senior Sebastian Jaramillo (Dracut, Mass.) stopped four shots for the Falcons, while junior Collin Robson (North Billerica, Mass.) chipped in with six saves for the Green and Gold
• Senior John Murphy (Braintree, Mass.) finished with four saves for the Buccaneers

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Wednesday as they travel to UMass Dartmouth for a non-conference matchup with the Corsairs, starting at 7:00 PM. Buccaneers will visit Salve Regina University on Tuesday for a non-conference tilt at 7:00 PM.