West Hartford, CT ? The University of Hartford men's soccer team remains undefeated in the America East after defeating the Black Bears of Maine 2-0 on Saturday evening at Al-Marzook Field. This marks the first time since the 2002 season that the Hawks have opened up conference play with three victories.
The Hawks got goals from juniors Ivan Guarin and Carlos Villa to extend Hartford's winning streak to three games, a feat that has been accomplished for the second time this season. With tonight's victory, Hartford has won six out of their last seven games and improves to 7-3-2 overall (3-0-0 America East) while remaining unbeaten at home. Maine drops to 3-6-2 (0-2-1 America East) on the season.
Hartford opened the match with two quick opportunities to put the first notch on the scoreboard, the first of which a header by junior Bojan Delibasic was just wide of the goal. Minutes later, freshman Patrick Boucher's attempt at putting the Hawks on the board was blocked by Maine goalkeeper Nemanja Kostic. In the 23rd minute of play, Guarin drilled a direct free kick past Kostic to give Hartford a 1-0 advantage, the eventual halftime score. The goal was Guarin's first as a Hawk.
Throughout the second half, Hartford and Maine battled to take control of the game offensively, with neither team able to maintain possession of the ball. In the 76th minute, junior Carlos Villa put an insurance tally on the scoreboard, netting his 11th goal of the season off an unselfish pass from teammate Cedomir Tomcic. The assist was Tomcic's first of the season.
Freshman goalkeeper Luke Citrinit recorded three saves, posting his third complete shutout in four starts for Hartford. He has allowed just one goal in 404 minutes of action while making 15 saves on the season. As a team, the Hawks have not allowed a goal in each of their seven victories. Nemanja recorded five saves for the Black Bears.
“We remain undefeated in a very difficult conference,” commented head coach Dan Gaspar following the match. “Through the team's efforts and abilities, we continue to remain unbeaten at home. Now we prepare against one of the top teams in our conference, Binghamton, while we play on Wednesday.”
Sophomore defenseman Anthony Buehler was named the “Man of the Match” for his effort in tonight's game. Junior midfielder Nikola Bogdanovic, who led Maine with three shots, earned the honors for the visiting Black Bears.
Hartford heads back on the road with a trip to Vestal, NY to face Binghamton on Wednesday, October 15. The Hawks then return to Al-Marzook Field on Wednesday, October 22 to host Albany as part of a double-header with the Hartford women's soccer team.
