BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. – Suffolk men's soccer scored poured in six goals led by a two-goal, two-assist effort from Damon Smargon to run past Mass. Maritime, 6-1, Tuesday night at Clean Harbors Stadium.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 6 | Mass. Maritime 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (3-2-2) | Mass. Maritime (1-4-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Smargon and Suffolk got on the board 10:31 into the contest and never looked back. Taj Jensen assisted on the game-opening goal.
Nearly 14 minutes later Diego Pierantozzi put away an unassisted strike to double the distance to 2-0, which remained at halftime.
Smargon struck 1:39 out of the locker room with help from Tommy Handelsman.
Five minutes later, the senior had hand in the next two goals as he assisted Luke Blawn and Edward Abouzeid on their respective strikes that were 1:18 apart.
The Buccaneers snuck on the board in the 76th minute, but Tommy Kurz restored the five-goal gap at the 81:46 mark thanks to a feed from Javen Ironside.
KEEPING UP WITH THE KEEPERS
- Ian Caldwell made four saves in the victory.
- Preston Joia turned aside seven shots in 51:21.
- Kaden Winter stopped one shot in 38:39 in relief.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Smargon paced Suffolk's scoring with two goals and two assists.
- Abouzeid, Blawn, Kurz and Pierantozzi scored onegoal each.
- Handelsman, Ironside and Jenen dished out one assist apiece.
- Suffolk commanded the pace of play, outshooting Mass. Maritime, 28-9.
- The Rams held a 3-2 edge in corner kicks.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk improved to 7-10-1 all-time against the Buccaneers.
- The Rams won their fourth straight game against Mass. Maritime.
- Suffolk is unbeaten, 4-0-0, against MMA with Bill Maddock on the bench.
- On the road, Suffolk is 4-8-1 all-time against Mass. Maritime.
- The six goals scored against MMA are the most by the Rams since they blanked the Buccaneers 7-0 Sept. 4, 2022.
- Caldwell made his collegiate debut in net.
- Smargon notched a career-best in every offensive category: goals (2), assists (2), points (6) and shots (9).
- Ironside recorded his first collegiate point with one assist.
- Handelsman and Jensen handed out their first assists of the season.
- Abouzeid and Kurz both tallied their first collegiate goals.
- Pierantozzi netted his first goal of the campaign.
- Blawn poured in his third goal of the season and third in as many games.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk starts its Conference of New England (CNE) schedule this Saturday, Sept. 21 at Gordon at 7:00 p.m.