Fitchburg Claims Win Over Maritime

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. - Fifteen minutes into the second half of Saturday's men's soccer match at Clean Harbors Stadium Stephen Nagle (Lancaster, Mass./Nashoba) drilled a shot into the Massachusetts Maritime net giving Fitchburg State a 1-0 lead. The Buccaneers picked up the tempo and put pressure on the Falcon defense as Zach O'Neil (Scituate, Mass./Scituate), Brendan Gawron (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) and Justin Burns (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) putting shots on goal. With 27 minutes to play the Falcons increased their lead to 2-0 on a goal from Yannick DePina (Boston, Mass./Madison Park) as Fitchburg held on for the win.

Massachusetts Maritime pushed the ball hard into the Fitchburg side of the field, but could not get a shot past Falcon keeper Branton Abbett (Jasper, Ind./Jasper)

Buccaneers keeper Mitch Hardy (Pepperell, Mass./Groton-Dunstable) finished the day with six saves, while Abbett stopped eight Buccaneers shots mostly in the second half. MMA held a 17-14 advantage in shots on net and had four corner kicks come up empty.

Massachusetts Maritime (1-3-1, 0-1 MASCAC) returns to the pitch Tuesday when they travel to Brandeis University, while Fitchburg (3-1-0, 1-0 MASCAC) hosts Eastern Nazarene on Wednesday.