Box Score NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's soccer team netted three second half goals and senior keeper Diego Medina (Yonkers, N.Y.) stopped nine shots in a 3-0 shutout over visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference contest this afternoon on Keefe Field on the campus of Wheaton. The Lyons improve to 5-2-0 overall and 1-1-0 in league play, while the Engineers fall to 4-3-1 and 0-2-0.
WPI held an 11-6 shot advantage in the first half, before Wheaton's offensive outburst in the second half. The Engineers owned a 19-15 margin for the match, while the Lyons boasted a 4-2 difference in corner kicks.
Junior midfielder Jack Brusso (Pawtucket, R.I.) broke through in the game's 55th minute with his first marker of the season on a feed from first year midfielder Marlon Monterroso (Providence, R.I.) for a 1-0 Wheaton lead.
The match remained a one-goal affair until the Lyons found the back of the net twice in a span of 69 seconds to take a 3-0 lead. Senior Luca De Castro Novaes (Scarsdale, N.Y.) scored his second goal of the season at the 76:15 mark, before first year forward Alasdair Ferrier (Concord, N.H.) gave Wheaton an insurance tally with his second score of the season in the 78th minute. Junior forward Avery Santoro (North Chatham, Mass.) assisted on the goal to give him at least one point in three of his last four outings.
The Engineers looked to crack the scoring column early in the first half, but senior back Evan Hallberg's (Glocester, R.I.) header off a corner kick went wide in the 17th minute. WPI threatened again late in the opening half when sophomore forward Aaron Vaz (Medford, Mass.) had his initial shot blocked, but took aim again and was denied by Medina with two minutes to play in the half.
Medina registered his 10th career shutout for the Lyons, falling just one save shy of his career-high in a blank sheet. Sophomore keeper Ryan Martin (Douglas, Mass.) turned away three shots for WPI.
Wheaton returns to play on Wednesday, September 29 when it hosts New England College at 4:00 p.m., while the Engineers head to Boston on September 28 to take on Wentworth Institute of Technology at 7:00 p.m.
