Fitchburg State and Salem State Advance to MASCAC Men's Soccer Tournamen Semifinals
#3 Fitchburg State and #5 Salem State are headed to the semifinal round of the 2024 MASCAC Men's Soccer Tournament.
#3 Fitchburg State and #5 Salem State are headed to the semifinal round of the 2024 MASCAC Men's Soccer Tournament.
#3 Fitchburg State 4, #6 Mass. Maritime 0 Box Score
Fitchburg, MA– The third seeded Falcons of Fitchburg State defeated the sixth seeded Buccaneers of Mass. Maritime Academy, 4-0 this afternoon in quarterfinal round action of the 2024 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action from Elliot Field.
The Basics
Score: Fitchburg State 4, Mass. Maritime 0
Records: Fitchburg State (9-7-3, 3-2-2 MASCAC), Mass. Maritime (3-12-1, 2-4-1 MASCAC)
How It Happened
Fitchburg State opened the scoring at the 14:14 mark with freshman Ajani Guzman (Leominster, MA) collecting a feed from classmate Justin Job (Worcester, MA) and fired a shot into the right side of the net for his fourth tally of the year for the 1-0 edge.
Mass. Maritime nearly knotted the score in the 29th minute of action when sophomore Brody Calvert (Windsor, MA) was awarded a penalty kick, but Falcon keeper Alexander Carvalho (North Providence, RI) made the sprawling save to preserve the 1-0 lead.
Following the intermission, the Falcons doubled the lead as Guzman found the back of the net for his second tally of the contest to make the score 2-0. The Green and Gold pushed the lead 3-0 at the 51:30 mark with sophomore Julian Correia-Estrada (Nashua, NH) collected a pass from Guzman and buried a shot into the back of the net for his first collegiate tally.
Fitchburg State secured the victory in the 68th minute when Guzman deposited the shot inside the near post for his third score of the contest off an assist from newcomer William Badger (Attleboro, MA), resulting in the 4-0 final.
Inside the Numbers
- This afternoon's contest marked the 48th meeting between the Falcons of Fitchburg State and the Buccaneers of Mass. Maritime with the Falcons 27-12-9 all time when taking on the Buccaneers
- Mass. Maritime finished with a 21-12 advantage in shots
- The Falcons held a 4-3 margin in corner kicks
- Sophomore Alexander Carvalho (North Providence, RI) stopped 12 shots for the Falcons
- Freshman Preston Joai (Mashpee, MA) made five saves for the Buccaneers
- Sophomore Julian Correia-Estrada collected his first collegiate tally for the Green and Gold
Up Next
Falcons return to action on Friday as they travel to Westfield State to take on the Owls in a MASCAC semifinal, starting at 7:00PM.
#5 Salem State 3, #4 Worcester State 1 Box Score
WORCESTER, Mass. – Vanilton Xavier (Brockton, MA) scored twice to lead fifth seed Salem State to a 3-1 victory over fourth seed Worcester State in the quarterfinals of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament on Wednesday at John Coughlin Field. The Vikings (6-7-5, 2-3-2) advance to face top seed Bridgewater State (10-5-2, 6-1) on Friday. The Lancers conclude their season with a record of 4-10-3, 2-2-3.
How it Happened:
- Salem State struck first in the 28' minute as Alex Ixlaj-Tello (Lynn, MA) setup Xavier for a header for the only score of the first half.
- Worcester State's Wilber Garcia (Bilbao, Spain) knotted the game early in the second half, deflecting a shot off a defender into the net.
- However, Xavier put Salem State back in front in the 60' minute after breaking past the Lancers' defense and beating keeper Tobias Schneider (Hudson, WI).
- Later, Naderson Curtis (Manchester, MA) iced the game, scoring easily on a penalty-kick to make the final 3-1.
Inside the Numbers:
- Xavier now leads the Vikings with seven goals scored.
- Erik Berg (Hadley, MA) made 11 saves in the victory for the Vikings.
- Schneider finished with four saves for Worcester State.
Up Next:
The Vikings will travel for a MASCAC semifinal match-up with top seed Bridgewater State on Friday, November 8 at 3:30 pm.
Releases courtesy of Fitchburg State and Salem State Sports Information