By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's soccer team increased its Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season unbeaten streak to 15 on Saturday afternoon.

The Bears held off Salem State University, 1-0, at Mazzaferro Field and are now 14-0-1 in their last 15 conference matches. BSU's last regular-season conference loss was at Framingham State on Sept.24, 2022.

Junior Melvin Alves (Brockton, Mass.) recorded the only goal and his first at BSU while senior goalkeeper Lukas Ekmanis (Baxter, Tenn.) picked up his fourth shutout of the season.

BSU (6-4-2) is atop the MASCAC standings with a 4-0 record while Salem State (5-4-4) was handed its first conference loss and is 2-1-1. The Vikings own a 33-15-6 record over the Bears in the series.

Salem State made a bid to tie the game in the closing seconds with a flurry.'

A header attempt was cleared off the line by a BSU defender, and Ekmanis turned aside the rebound attempt to preserve the victory.

With about 18 minutes to go, Ekmanis made a sensational diving stop on a shot from about 25 yards out. He also stopped the rebound attempt on the play.

Alves, a transfer from Dean College, scored his initial goal with the Bears at 37:03 with freshman Dermott Amorim (Wrentham, Mass.) assisting.

Alves delivered a shot inside the right post from 25 yards out to break the scoreless tie.

The Bears outshot the Vikings, 16-12, and had seven shots on goal.

Freshman Marcelo Silva (Marlborough, Mass.) made six stops for Salem State while Ekmanis had five saves and the team was credited with one.

BSU is off until Friday night when it travels to theMassachusetts Maritime Academy for a 7 p.m. game.

Salem State hosts Fisher College on Wednesday at 4 p.m.