NEWPORT NEWS, VA-The York
College men's soccer squad opened their 2008 campaign with a
2-0 victory over Virginia Wesleyan in the opening round of the
VCAM/CNU Classic hosted by Christopher Newport University. The
Spartans, who are ranked fifth in the nation, improve to 1-0
overall while the 14th ranked Marlins fall to 0-1.
The first half saw a majority of play take place
in the middle of the field as there was just four shots in the
stanza. The Spartans had three of those four shots but did not put
any of the three on target. The green and white held a slight 3-2
edge in corner kicks for the half as the game was scoreless through
the first 45 minutes.
The action picked up after the half as the two
squads started the push the tempo. York began the half with a pair
of Travis Williams (Springfield, Pa./Springfield
Township) shots however both attempts floating wide. The
Marlins' lone shot on goal in the second half came in the
71st minute as Brandon Massie had a corner kick for VWC. Shortly
after the corner, Clay Price fired a shot on goal that was saved by
Spartan netminder Kyle Marks (Yardley,
Pa./Pennsbury), preserving the scoreless deadlock.
The Spartans began to apply significant pressure
to the Marlin defense as the clock ran under 15 minutes left in
regulation. The Spartans got a wide shot from Chris Ports
(Baltimore, Md./John Carroll School) and that was followed
by a pair of corner kicks. That pressure finally paid off when
freshman Kemal Nuspahic (East Petersburg,
Pa./Warwick) flicked home a pass from the reigning
CAC Player-of-the-Year, Jon Ports (Baltimore,
Md./McDonogh), to give the Spartans the 1-0 lead with just
4:41 remaining in regulation.
Chris Ports tacked on a key insurance goal with
36 seconds remaining in the game as he scored off a pass from
sophomore Lucas Emil (Parsippany, N.J./Morris
Catholic). That goal was the first for Ports since
returning from a knee injury that cost him the 2007 season.
Spartan head coach Mark Ludwig
was pleased with the win.
“This was a good win over a quality
side,” said Ludwig. “They have some good young
players but we kept good composure until we got the first goal. I
am happy that we kept them off the board with having three new
players in the back. We are still learning to play together but
this is a strong start.”
Marks picked up his first shutout of the year as
he notched two saves while Virginia Wesleyan's Ryan Zmuda
registered just one save while he allowed two goals.
The Spartans held an 11-5 edge in total shots
while York also held a 6-4 margin in corner kicks.
The Spartans return to action on Saturday
evening when they face the host Captains at 7:30 pm.
GAME BOX
