By John R. Johnson, Boston Globe

As a freshman, Joe Cohen registered four shutouts and a 1.65 goals-against average for the men’s soccer team at Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

He was the backbone for a 1-0 victory against Salem State University in the quarterfinals of the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference playoffs, the Buccaneers’ first win in the postseason.

Yet, Mass. Maritime coach Greg Perry was somewhat unimpressed.

“He had a decent year,” Perry said. “I think he was more lucky than he was good at times.”

The coach, however, is entirely impressed with the performance of his sophomore keeper this season. Cohen has posted four shutouts for the Bucs (4-3) and owns a stingy 0.55 GAA.

“Joe has improved his game immensely,” said Perry. “His work ethic is through the roof. This year, he is more vocal and aggressive off the line. He’s doing things he didn’t do last year.”

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Cohen is ranked 11th in Division 3 in save percentage and 26th in saves per game. Through seven games, his save percentage is .927, quite a leap from last fall’s .788.

He attributes his strong performance to his offseason workouts, including playing with the Falmouth Tide of the Cape Cod Amateur Soccer League.

“I was pretty surprised by how last year went,” said Cohen, a facilities engineering major at the academy in Buzzards Bay. “I wasn’t even sure if I’d be the starter. This summer I just worked hard and playing with the Tide definitely gave me more confidence and prepared me for this season.”

Cohen got the Bucs off on the right foot, blanking Becker College, 3-0, in the season opener, in which he was called upon to make just one save. He then turned back eight shots in a 2-0 win over Wentworth and had five stops in a 4-0 win over Salem State. On Wednesday, it was six more saves in a 4-0 win over Anna Maria.

The Bucs have lost three games by one goal each, including a 1-0 overtime setback to Nichols, when Cohen was perfect in regulation time and made a career-high 13 saves.

“He has kept the opposition at one goal or no goals up until the very end,” said Perry. “He’s keeping us in games. This year he is seeing the field a lot better and helping the defense to stay in position. He has a long body and takes up a lot of space when he comes out of the net to challenge.”

Cohen is still learning the game.

He did not play as a freshman at Plymouth South High School, and was the junior varsity goalie his sophomore year. As a junior he led the Panthers to the Division 2 South tourney, but separated his shoulder the day before team’s double-overtime loss to Marshfield High School.

His physical ability provides a big advantage while he continues to learn the nuances of the game.

“Because I’m tall they can shoot from almost anywhere and my positioning is usually good enough,” said Cohen, named MASCAC Player of the Week during the first two weeks of the season. “By having a tall body I can cover most areas of the net.”

Cohen credits his strong defense, including the play of senior cocaptain Rob Robbs, a defender from Braintree, and junior back Nick Parker from Plymouth.

“In two of our shutouts I have had relatively low shots, but I had to work pretty hard in one of them,” he said. “I’d definitely prefer to make fewer saves, but if the ball does get by my defense, which doesn’t happen that often, they can count on me to be there.”

Robbs, a four-year starter, anchors Mass. Maritime’s attack from midfield.

“Everything we do revolves around Rob, and he has a great presence on the field,” said Perry. “He’s an athlete. He was a point guard in basketball, which is no different from being that center middie for us. He has great feet and distributes the ball well.”

Parker had a hat trick in the win over Anna Maria.