SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine— The Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) Men's Soccer team defeated Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) opponent Vermont Technical College (VTC) 6-1 in its 2016 home opener at Wainwright on Sunday, September 5.
Brandon Ford (Rochester, N.H.) opened up the scoring at the five-minute mark with his first goal of the season from fellow sophomore Hugues Bakunda (Lille, France). The SeaWolves lead grew larger before the half when sophomore Harrison Charwat (McLean, Va.), assisted by Bronson Kieltyka (Monmouth, Maine), found the back of the net for his first cap of the season.
Coming out of the half, VTC's Hunter Grace cut the SMCC lead in half in the 54th minute. SMCC's offense responded almost immediately changing the momentum for good. Sophomores Jamal Durrani (Lebanon, Maine) and Kieltyka both recorded goals less than a minute apart and the SMCC defense settled in to play another 40 minutes of scoreless soccer.
The SeaWolves would get two more before the end of the match, one from sophomore Gradi Lapika (Kinshasa, Congo) and another from senior Denver Grant (Lucea, Jamaica) to solidify a 6-1 victory. Sophomore Patrick Duddy (Sedgwick, Maine) notched seven saves in eight shots-on-goal and now leads the YSCC in Save Percentage (.875).
The men's soccer coaching staff named both defensemen Jacob Coffey (Lebanon, Maine) and Durrani as Men of the Match.
Head Coach Brian Dougher commented, "We were able to put together 70 minutes of good soccer. Our goal is to be able to play a complete match against a good opponent like VTC. The boys responded well to giving up a goal as a result of being flat defensively. We look forward to learning from this experience and getting ready for CCRI on Sunday."
SMCC now stands 2-0-0 (W-L-D) in conference play, claiming the top spot in the YSCC standings.
Click HERE to view the photo gallery of the match.
The action continues when the SeaWolves play host to the 0-2 Knights of the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) on Sunday, September 11. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Wainwright Field.
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