BUZZARDS BAY, Mass -- In a Friday afternoon matinee, the Buccaneers hosted Worcester State in their regular season finale which was also senior day for the seven senions on the roster. The gmae itself held big MASCAC Playoff implications for both teams, essentially, win and secure a home game in next week's playoffs. Following the pregame senior day ceremony and and outstanding 90 minutes of soccer, the Bucs squeaked out the win, 2-1.

Congratulations to our seniors John Murphy (Braintree, MA), Shane MacNeil (Braintree, MA), Brian Tannian (Reading, MA), Liam McDonough (West Newbury, MA) Benjamin Cook (Ft. Myers, FL), and Jake McInerney (Hanover, MA) on their outstanding Buccaneer careers!

The Basics

Final: Maritime 2, Worcester 1

Records: Maritime 6-11 (3-4 MASCAC)

            Worcester 3-10-1 (2-5 MASCAC)

For The Bucs

• Ty Chafa (Quincy, MA) scored his third goal of the season in the 16th minute.
• Senior Jake McInerney (Hanover, MA) scored his first career goal, and the game winner, on a header from a throw-in in the 85th minute.
• CJ Vincent (Carver, MA) and senior Shane MacNeil (Braintree, MA) were credited with the assists on the goals.
• Senior goalkeeper John Murphy (Braintree, MA) picked up his sixth win of the season in the game, making one save and allowing one goal on two shots faced.
• Senior Michael Carey (Plympton, MA) was credited with a defensive save on a Worcester shot in the first half.

For The Lancers

• Matt Alzamora scored Worcester's lone goal in the 44th minute to tie the match before the halftime break.
• Cyrus Raines picked up the assist on the Alzamora goal.
• Goalkeeper Andy Ramirez made three saves and allowed two goals on five shots faced. 

How It Happened

In a game that had a home playoff game on the line for both teams, it was a playoff atmosphere at Clean Harbors Stadium on Friday afternoon between the Bucs and Lancers. The physical match was a crowd pleaser in the first half as both teams pushed the bal in to their offensive third. In the 16th minute, a cross from Vincent found the head of Chafa at the back post the went past Ramirez for the first goal of the match, giving Maritime an early lead. Worcester went on the offensive, even outshooting the Buccaneers in the first 45 minutes of play 6-5. It took almost until the halftime break but Worcester evened the score on Alzamora's goal from Raines a minute before the break. The teams remained tied at halftime.

The second half was just as physical and action packed as the first half with neither team wanting to give up their opportunity at hosting next week. A fast paced 40 minutes had the air of overtime as neither team was giving in. Then, in the 85th minute, the Buccaneers earned a throw-in deep in their offensive third. MacNeil, who has been the player for long thro-ins all season, stepped up and fired a dart in to the box where the tallest player on the field, McInerney, went up, conected with the ball and after a bounce off the turn, then of the cross bar, the ball rolled over the line for the goal, giving the Bucs a 2-1 lead with five minutes to play. Maritime found a way to waste the rest of the time of the clock, despite one more push by Worcester, and earned the 2-1 victory on Senior day to seal their first home playoff game since 2017.

What's Next

The Buccaneers will host a MASCAC Quarterfinals on Tuesday, November 2nd at 7pm at Clean Harbors Stadium.