Second half surge puts Panthers past Badgers 4-0

The Plymouth State men’s soccer team used a balanced offensive attack to pick up a 4-0 decision against hosts Johnson State College on Sunday afternoon. The loss sees the Badgers slide to 4-7-1 overall and 2-4 in conference play. The Panthers advance to 4-7-1 on the year and 2-1-1 in their conference play.

The Panthers saw goals from James Edmunds, Ryan Curtain, Mason Cliche and Refaat Bashir. Graham Hughes, Aaron Smith, Christian Bua and Nick Rutherford each recorded assists for the Panthers in their winning effort.

Both teams got off to a slow start, finding their feet as the time ticked on for the first twenty minutes of the opening stanza. Right after the Badgers had a near goal that bounced off the crossbar; the Panthers turned things around and got on the board after Hughes set Edmunds up for a open shot on net. With the clock running down, both teams slowed their pace as the Panthers led at the half 1-0.

Seven minutes out of break the Panthers tacked on their second score of the game when Smith fed Curtin. Curtin took the ball up the middle as he sprinted toward net and struck a low liner past Johnson keeper, Alex Pakatar. The Panthers scored two more times to seal the win, with their fourth goal coming with just 45 seconds left to play.

The Panthers dominated play in the game with heavy advantages in shots (20-8). Pakatar ended the day with five saves while James Mansour picked up the win with only four saves in the first half while Danny Marsh saw zero shots in the second half.

Johnson resume conference play next Saturday for a 2:30p contest at New England College while Plymouth will host UMass-Dartmouth on Saturday at 4:00pm.