Saints and Leopards Play Scoreless Draw in Men’s Soccer Season-Opener

BOSTON, Mass. - Emmanuel College and Wentworth Institute of Technology played to a 0-0 draw Thursday afternoon in non-conference men’s soccer action at Roberto Clemente Field in Boston, Mass.

Saints and Leopards Play Scoreless Draw in Men’s Soccer Season-Opener
Program Video Box Score

Team Stats

September 1, 2022

THE BASICS 
Emmanuel College, 0 – Wentworth Inst. of Tech., 0

Records: 
Emmanuel Saints (0-0-1)
Wentworth Leopards (0-0-1)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Roberto Clemente Field

Date: Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022

THE LEAD – Emmanuel College and Wentworth Institute of Technology played to a 0-0 draw Thursday afternoon in non-conference men's soccer action at Roberto Clemente Field in Boston, Mass.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Saints had the best scoring chance of the match during the 11th minute following a short corner that saw junior outside back Luke Hines (Bristol, Conn.) played a cross to the back post. Sophomore forward Pedro-Andres Vasquez (Frisco, Texas) headed the cross toward the far post before classmate Joey Soucy (Attleboro, Mass.) headed home what appeared to be the first marker of the season before it was whistled back for offsides inside the Leopard's six-yard box.
  • Late in the half, Wentworth had a good look off a direct kick from 30 yards out taken by senior midfielder Paolo Ruggeri (Canton, Mass.) that flirted with the top left-hand corner of the goal before EC keeper Vincent Conelli (West Hartford, Conn.) denied the attempt to preserve a 0-0 score heading into halftime.
  • Shots were even at the break with four attempts each way in a very physical half that saw 26 total fouls, 16 committed by the Saints including five yellow cards.
  • The Leopards matched that intensity to open the second stanza but pushed the envelope a little too much as Ruggiero registered a pair of yellow cards to earn the send-off and give Emmanuel the man-up advantage for the remainder of the match.
  • Despite being a man-down, WIT pushed forward and almost broke the scoreless tie during the 76th minute when seniors Erik Treble (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) and Augustin Edwin, Jr. (New Bedford, Mass.) had back-to-back headers inside the EC box that hit the crossbar before the Saints were able to clear the ball out of danger.
  • Over the final 10 minutes, Emmanuel controlled most of the play and had two scoring chances. The first came on a diving header off a corner by senior back Cole Berry (Carver, Mass.) that sailed wide with 9:35 remaining. The final chance came off a free kick 20 yards out on the left side of the pitch that senior Alec Erskine (Coventry, Mass.) bent around a wall but missed the net to keep the score locked at 0-0 for the final.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

  • The Saints finished the game with the slim 10-9 advantage in shots and owned the cornerkick edge, 4-1.
  • Both sides finished with six cards each with a total of 44 fouls committed in the match (24-20, WIT).
  • Conelli ended the day with four saves to earn the save while senior Louis Quintero (Boston, Mass.) also made four stops for Wentworth.
  • The shutout for Conelli was the sixth of his career, moving him into fifth all-time in program history in clean sheets. 
  • In eight career meetings, Wentworth owns the all-time series with a 4-2-2 mark, but the Saints are 2-0-1 over the last three meetings.
  • Emmanuel improves to 11-1-1 all-time in home-openers at Roberto Clemente Field dating back to 2009 when the field was turfed in a partnership with the city of Boston.

UP NEXT

  • The Saints are back at Clemente on Saturday, September 3 playing host to Maine Maritime Academy at 4:30 PM.
  • WIT is back the same day for their home-opener at Sweeney Field vs. Coast Guard at 12:00 PM.