Men's Soccer Falls to Worcester State in MASCAC Semifinals, 4-1

WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State's Andre Ipojuca (Saugus, Mass.) scored a pair of goals to lead the top-seeded Lancers to a 4-1 victory over No. 5 seed Bridgewater State University in the semifinal round of the 2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Soccer Tournament on Friday afternoon at John F. Coughlin Memorial Field.

With the win, the Lancers (11-6) advance to the MASCAC Tournament championship game, scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 6 in Worcester against either Mass. Maritime Academy or Fitchburg State University. The visiting Bears conclude their season with an overall record of 8-9-2.

The Bears netted the first goal of the game, however, Worcester State responded with back-to-back tallies in the first half to take a 2-1 lead going into the intermission. The Lancers extended the advantage to 4-1 in the second half to seal the win.

Just nine minutes into the game, sophomore forward Jameson Bradley (Westborough, Mass.) scored on a breakaway to give the Bears the early 1-0 lead. Following a clearance by senior midfielder Sawyer Fleck (Foxboro, Mass.), sophomore forward Brian Bortolotti (Foxboro, Mass.) controlled the ball, turned and sent Bradley in on the breakaway.

Worcester came back just over a minute later when sophomore forward Bryan Brasil (Williamsburg, Mass.) tripped up a defender and cleared a path for a crossover to the middle where teammate Ipojuca flicked the ball into the goal to knot the score at 1-1.

Worcester's second goal came after a non-direct kick in the 14th minute. Following a scramble inside the box, Ipojuca put a foot on the ball which landed at the feet of teammate George Siotis (Oxford, Mass.) who then fired the ball into the back of the net for the Lancers' first lead of the game.

Following the intermission, Worcester State received another free kick that resulted in a goal. Off the restart, junior defender Matthew Dent (Ludlow, Mass.) headed the ball down the field to Ipojuca who ripped a shot into the back left corner of the net.

With four minutes remaining on the clock, freshman forward Mitzschael Myrthil (Clinton, Mass.) scored on a breakaway for the 4-1 advantage, which proved to be the final score of the game.

Worcester junior goalkeeper, Jason Barrett (Spencer, Mass.) registered the win in a five-save performance, while Bridgewater State freshman netminder Nate Morgado (Dartmouth, Mass.) turned aside six shots in the setback.

The Lancers held a 25-16 shot advantage for the game.