Men’s Soccer Notches First Victory of Season, Downs Newbury 3-0

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QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene men's soccer team netted three second-half goals to earn a 3-0 shutout win over Newbury Saturday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The Lions start the season with a 1-0-0 overall record while the Nighthawks drop to 0-1-0 on the year.

Neither squad was able to find the back of the net in the opening stanza as the score was deadlocked at 0-0 midway through the match.

Eastern Nazarene nearly got on the board in the sixth minute as Jacob Mason (Southport, England) launched a free kick effort that drilled the crossbar.

Newbury had an apparent goal waved off in the 19th minutes as David Linder strayed offsides.

The Lions produced 12 shot attempts in the first half while the Nighthawks registered six. 

Rookie Salvatore Cuneo (Birmingham, Ala.) opened the scoring with his first collegiate goal in the 60th minute. After a handball in the penalty area by the visitors, Cuneo stepped up and buried the ensuing penalty kick to put the hosts ahead 1-0.

Eastern Nazarene tacked on a second goal in the 67th minute, benefitting from an own goal. Off of a long throw-in, senior Scott Hansen (Middletown Springs, Vt.) flicked the ball toward goal before the ball skipped off of a defender's head and over the goalkeeper.

The Lions added an insurance score in the 88th minute as Mason scorched a free kick into the lower left corner of the cage for his first tally of the fall, giving the home side a 3-0 advantage.

Senior Jake Johnson (Mount Bethel, Pa.) stopped three shots en route to picking up his first clean sheet of the season and fifth of his career. Zach Verdon made eight saves in net for Newbury on the day.

Eastern Nazarene finished with 23 shots in the contest and 11 shots on goal. Senior Will Campbell (Anchorage, Alaska) led all players with seven shots in the game while Hansen attempted five.

The Lions also earned eight corner kicks while conceding just two in the match.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene visits Lesley in non-conference action September 3.