YORK, PA - The York College men's soccer team (4-0-1) opened the first home game of the season with a physical 3-0 victory over the visiting Kean University Cougars (4-2-1), Wednesday evening.

The Spartans got on the board early when a deep pass off the foot of junior Trey Good (Narvon, PA/ Pequea Valley) set up for an outside the box foul by Kean. The resulting set piece put reigning Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Rookie-of-the-Year Kemal Nuspahic (East Petersburg, PA/ Warwick) a mere 18 yards away from goal.

The Spartan sophomore drilled the kick, which deflected into the bottom right corner of the net to secure his second goal of the season just 2:40 into the game, and put York out to an early 1-0 lead.

“We moved the ball well,” Nuspahic said. “It always helps to score, it might not always be pretty but it's always good to get an early lead.”

Physical play resumed with the Spartan men controlling the ball for the majority of the first half.  A tripping call registered against the Cougars gave junior Lucas Emil (Parsippany, N.J./ Morris Catholic) an opportunity to put another tally on the board for the Spartans. Emil would not disappoint the home crowd, and spun the ball over the defense into the top corner of the goal in the match's 14th minute.

The Spartans headed into the locker room with the 2-0 lead. The Cougars did hold a 5-3 advantage in shot for the half while the York side led 3-1 in corners.

The second half began with a high-energy Cougar team pressuring the Spartans. Kean had many opportunities in the second half but could not capitalize against a stout Spartan defense, led by freshman goalkeeper Jesse Derksen (York, PA/ Susquehannock).

The Cougars had their best chance to pull within one during the 71st minute of play. Kean several chances in front of the Spartan goal but they were blocked and eventually forced out of bounds by York for what resulted in a harmless corner kick.

The Spartans would add one more to their total in the 86th minute on Nuspahic's second score of the match. With control of the ball in Cougar territory freshman Cody Pearson (Crofton, MD/ DeMatha Catholic) found Nuspahic on a brilliant slip pass from just outside the 18 which the sophomore buried for York's third goal.

“We're making progress, our goal is to get better every game,” Ludwig said. “I don't want them to be satisfied. We want to continue to get better.”

With the win Ludwig's record moves to 159-51-15, one win away from 160.

The Spartans return to action on Saturday, September 19, at 2:00 pm against Stevens Tech, the 2008 NCAA Division III runner-up, in a non-conference tilt at Graham Field.

BOX SCORE

Game story written by York College Sports Information student-intern Garrett Wampler

Kemal Nuspahic scores York's first tally - photo courtesy of Steve Doemland (www.stevedoemland.com)