YORK, PA-The York College men's
soccer squad shook off a sluggish start and pounded the Wesley
College Wolverines 5-0 in Capital Athletic Conference action
on Wednesday afternoon in York. The green and white, who are ranked
second in the nation, improve to 16-0 overall and 6-0 in the CAC.
The Wolverines, who entered the day tied for second in the CAC,
fall to 10-4-2 overall and 4-2-1 in the CAC.
The Spartans started off a little slow as Wesley
got the better of the play in the opening five minutes of the game.
The Wolverines entered the contest having shutout their last four
opponents as they were riding a 453:24 shutout streak. Fortunately
for York, that streak was snapped 9:02 into the game as the green
and white turned a Wolverine turnover into the game's first
goal. Junior Travis Williams (Springfield, Pa./Springfield
Township) collected the misplayed ball and slipped a pass
to All-American Jon Ports (Baltimore,
Md./McDonogh) who promptly converted the goal inside the
right post for his 11th goal of the year.
York looked like they were going to add a second
goal in the 24th minute as Chris Ports (Baltimore, Md./John
Carroll) chipped the ball over a charging Nick Talarico,
the Wolverines' goalie. The shot seemed destined for the back
of the net but the Wolverines cleared it off the line to preserve
their one goal deficit.
That deficit doubled to 2-0 just a minute later
when Williams was again in the middle of the action. The junior
midfielder fed a beautiful pass to a oncoming Lucas Emil
(Parsippany, N.J./Morris Catholic) who juked Talarico to
the ground before placing the ball inside the far post for the 2-0
York lead.
The Spartans outshot the Wolverines 8-7 in the
first half while neither team had a corner kick.
The second half saw the Spartans come out more
organized and ready to apply the offensive pressure in the second
45 of action.
That pressure paid off in a Spartan goal just
over 11 minutes into the half as Talarico attempted to clear a ball
that went directly to the chest of Chris Ports. Ports settled the
ball and drilled the ball past the shell-shocked Wolverine
netminder for the 3-0 Spartan lead.
The next Spartan tally may have been one of the
best of the season. Talarico attempted to clear a ball to one of
his defenders but didn't see Jon Ports hustle back to the
play. Ports stole the ball from the Wolverine defender and calmly
fed senior Brian Carr (Blairstown, N.J./North Warren
Regional) for the goal. Carr chipped the ball into the net
for his first goal of the year with less than 20 minutes remaining
in regulation.
York closed out the scoring just 30 seconds
later as Ports made another hustle play. He stripped a defender on
the end line. Ports fed Carr in the box and then Carr located
Justin Suchoski (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) who
one-timed the ball into the netting for his fourth goal of the
year.
The Spartans finished the game with a 17-9 edge
in shots including a 9-2 bulge in the second half. Both teams had a
corner kick while the squads combined for 27 fouls and two yellow
cards.
Three Spartan goalies combined to post their
13th shutout of the year as their current scoreless streak
now stands at 328:50. Senior Kyle Marks (Yardley,
Pa./Pennsbury) played the first 45 minutes of the game and
recorded four saves. Junior Ryan Hock (Brookeville,
Md./Sherwood) relieved Marks and played a stellar 38:14 in
net. Freshman Kyle Connolly (Stratham,
N.H./Exeter) closed out the clean sheet with 6:46 of work
as he made one stop.
Talarico finished the day with six saves in 90
minutes of action as he allowed all five Spartan goals.
York concludes their regular season home slate
at 8-0 as they outscored their eight opponents 27-0 at Graham
Field.
The Spartans now take to the road to face St.
Mary's College in a CAC contest on Saturday. Game time
at St. Mary's is set for 2:00 pm
MATCH BOX
Lucas Emil photo courtesy of Eric Linsley.
