NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's soccer team recorded its seventh shutout of the season in a 2-0 victory over visiting Massachusetts Institute of Technology this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Keefe Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons are unbeaten in three of their last four games and improve to 7-2-4 overall and 2-1-1 in league play, while the Engineers fall to 5-4-4 and 2-1-2.
Wheaton dominated play and its defense was suffocating, limiting MIT to just two shots for the day, while the Lyons' offense fired 17 shots, including 11 on frame. Wheaton was awarded six of the eight corner kicks in the match.
Sophomore Paco Polo (Madrid, Spain) and Declan Rhatigan (Holderness, N.H.) each netted goals for the Lyons. Senior keeper Nick Phinney (Gorham, Maine) was untested in net to record his third shutout of the season.
Senior midfielder Dilin Meloni (Needham, Mass.) and sophomore back Gianluca Balestrieri (Washington, D.C.) each attempted a shot for the Engineers. Senior goalie Paolo Mangiafico (Farmington, Conn.) recorded eight saves for MIT.
Sophomore forward Gabriel Rodriguez (Queens, N.Y.) set up Wheaton's first marker when he possessed the ball in the middle of the box, before threading a cross to the right post. Polo received the ball on the move, before switching the ball from his right to his left foot for a quick shot just inside the right post for his fourth score of the year in the 13th minute of play. Senior forward Avery Dinham (Coral Springs, Fla.) got the play started with a cross from outside the box to Rodriguez.
The Lyons added an insurance marker, midway through the second session, to take a 2-0 margin. Rhatigan netted his first goal of the year off a free kick just outside of the box on the right side when he unleashed a shot that skipped past the Engineers' keeper and into the far left post in the 77th minute.
Wheaton's defense did the rest, paralyzing MIT for the final 13 minutes of the match.
The Lyons return to action when they travel to Worcester, Mass. on Wednesday, October 21 to take on NEWMAC foe Worcester Polytechnic Institute at 7:00 p.m. while the Engineers head to Worcester as well on the same day to play conference rival Clark University (Mass.) at 4:00 p.m.
