Buccaneers’ McCarthy Nails Hat Trick in Win Over Becker

LEICESTER — It was a victory that included many firsts for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy men’s soccer team Wednesday afternoon on the road.

Maritime junior Thomas McCarthy (Tybee Island, Ga.) netted his first career hat trick and freshmen teammates Zach O’Neil (Scituate, MA) and William Taylor (Hanover, MA) each scored their first collegiate goals to pace Massachusetts Maritime to a 5-0 non-league victory over Becker College at Alumni Field. Sophomore goalie Mike Pruchnik (Rochester, MA) notched his first collegiate win in net for the traveling Bucs.

Former Mashpee High School soccer star Scott Matoian had a key assist in Wednesday afternoon’s 5-0 victory for the Mass. Maritime Buccaneers.
MMA Athletics Photo

McCarthy gave the visiting Buccaneers (1-1) — who were playing their second match in a 21-hour span — the only goal they would need just 7:23 into the contest on a feed from fellow junior Scott Matoian (Mashpee, MA), and he extended that margin to 2-0 in the 31^st minute on an assist from sophomore Alex Thompson (Mansfield, MA).

McCarthy completed his hat trick off a second Matoian pass 9:38 after intermission and O’Neil and Taylor netted their first collegiate goals in the 64^th and 82^nd minutes, respectively, to close out the scoring for Massachusetts Maritime. O’Neil’s marker came on a feed from senior Nick Parker (Plymouth, MA) and Taylor’s goal was unassisted.

Pruchnik made one save over the first 63-plus minutes of action for Massachusetts Maritime, while freshmen Connor Murphy (Mashpee, MA) and Trevor Ross (Fort Lee, VA) were not called upon for stops over the final 37-plus minutes of play. Freshman Benjamin Cadman (Harvard, MA) made 10 saves in his first career start in the season opener for the host Hawks (0-1), as the Buccaneers outshot Becker by a 33-2 margin overall (15-1 on goal) for the afternoon and took three of the contest’s four corner kicks.

Massachusetts Maritime will be idle until next Wednesday evening when the Buccaneers host Wentworth in a non-league match at Clean Harbors Stadium beginning at 7:00 pm, while Becker faces WPI in opening round play of the 2015 Worcester City Tournament on Friday afternoon at Worcester State’s Coughlin Field beginning at 4:00 pm.

SCORING SUMMARY
MMA:   Thomas McCarthy (Scott Matoian)                                  7:23 1^st
MMA:   McCarthy (Alex Thompson)                                            30:14 1^st
MMA:   McCarthy (Matoian)                                                       54:38 2^nd
MMA:   Zach O’Neil (Nick Parker)                                               63:04 2^nd
MMA:   William Taylor (Unassisted)                                            81:08 2^nd

GOALIE SAVES
MMA:   Mike Pruchnik—1, Connor Murphy—0, Trevor Ross—0
BEC:    Benjamin Cadman—10

— Story provided by Massachusetts Maritime Academy Director of Sports Information Jim Seavey. Edited by Capecod.com Sports Editor Sean Walsh. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm