St. Mary’s College of Maryland men’s soccer team overcame a first-half deficit with second-half strikes from Nick Haney and Jack Nelson for a 2-1 United East Conference victory over Cairn University on Oct. 18 at Jamie L. Roberts Stadium.
The result left the Seahawks at 10-5-1 overall and 7-0 in conference play, maintaining their lead in the United East standings with 21 points from seven games. They sit atop the league with a plus-20 goal differential in conference matches, ahead of Penn State Harrisburg at 6-0-1 and 19 points. Cairn dropped to 3-8-3 overall and 2-3-1 in the league, marking its third consecutive defeat.
The contest served as Senior Day, with the program recognizing six fourth-year players before kickoff: defenders Jack Nelson of Ellicott City, Andrew Martinelli of Rockville, Xavier Lewis of Severn and Tomas Hurtado of Rockville, plus midfielders Ryan Cooper of Annapolis and Ned Schauermann of Edgewater. Each senior hails from a Maryland public high school, reflecting the team’s strong local recruitment pipeline.
Cairn opened the scoring at the 25:49 mark. Midfielder Brock Burres collected a clearance near midfield and advanced the ball to forward Matthews Lungu just outside the penalty area. Lungu settled the pass and rifled a low central shot past goalkeeper Zack Reed for the 1-0 lead. St. Mary’s generated the period’s only six shots but failed to convert, as Highlanders keeper Xander Jakeway recorded three saves to preserve the advantage at halftime.
Coach Alun Oliver, a 2004 St. Mary’s alumnus in his 12th season directing the program, emphasized adjustments at the break to increase pressure in the final third. The shift paid dividends early in the second half. At 58:02, senior defender Nelson launched a long throw-in from the right touchline toward the penalty area. Sophomore forward Haney, positioned at the edge of the six-yard box, controlled the ball with his chest, spun away from a marker and volleyed a right-footed effort under the crossbar from 12 yards to level the score at 1-1.
St. Mary’s controlled the ensuing play, registering eight shots to Cairn’s six over the final 32 minutes. The winner arrived at 80:19 during a corner-kick sequence. Junior midfielder Zach Blaum’s delivery found traffic in the box, and a blocked clearance fell to Haney near the penalty spot. Haney laid off to Nelson, who tapped in from three yards for his fourth goal of the season and the 2-1 edge. Reed secured the result with a diving stop on Lungu’s header in stoppage time, his lone save of the match.
The Seahawks outshot Cairn 14-7 overall, including a 7-1 advantage in shots on goal, and held a 6-3 edge in corner kicks. Offsides were even at 3-3, while fouls tilted 8-10 against St. Mary’s. Nelson paced the hosts with a goal and assist, matching Haney’s output on the afternoon. Both players fired two shots apiece, with each placing one on frame. Blaum led in attempts with five, two on target, while Cooper added two shots, one on goal.
Haney, a 5-foot-11 biology major from Chesapeake Beach who earned first-team All-Southern Maryland Athletic Conference honors as a junior and senior at Northern High School, now leads the team with seven goals. His tally against Cairn marked his seventh of the campaign and second in conference play. The sophomore also ranks third with three assists, contributing 10 points overall. Haney opened the season with United East Offensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 1 after scoring and assisting in back-to-back nonconference wins.
Nelson, a 5-foot-9 economics and business administration senior from Ellicott City, shifted between defense and midfield during the match. A River Hill High School graduate with four varsity letters, he earned United East Defensive Player of the Year and first-team all-conference honors in 2024, when he tied for second on the squad with seven goals. This season, his four goals and three assists total seven points, placing him among the team’s top contributors. Nelson, who started all 21 games last year and notched career highs of two goals and four points in a single match, also serves on the Student Investment Group and cited the 2023 conference championship as his favorite Seahawk memory.
Reed, a 6-foot-4 junior from Leonardtown High School, improved to 6-2 in net with the victory. His season total stands at 37 saves across 1,110 minutes, helping limit opponents to 1.50 goals per game. The back line, anchored by seniors like the 6-foot-2 Hurtado and 5-foot-9 Martinelli, has contributed to five shutouts.
St. Mary’s entered the weekend with a five-match conference winning streak, having scored 16 goals while allowing three in those contests. The team sits second in the United East in scoring at 2.31 goals per game overall, with 37 tallied on 257 shots. Franco Reyes follows Haney with six goals, while Lucas Evans leads assists with four. The Seahawks hold a plus-13 differential, converting 14.4 percent of shots into goals.
The United East Conference, restructured in 2023 from the merger of the Colonial States Athletic Conference and North Eastern Athletic Conference, includes 13 institutions spanning Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York. St. Mary’s joined in 2021 after 34 seasons in the Capital Athletic Conference, where it claimed four titles and made five NCAA tournament appearances. The Seahawks won the 2024 United East championship with a 2-0 final over Penn State Abington at Roberts Stadium, advancing to the NCAA first round before a 2-1 loss at Dickinson. This year’s unbeaten conference mark positions them for a top seed in the Nov. 8-10 tournament, which awards the automatic Division III bid.
The victory extended St. Mary’s home unbeaten streak to seven, dating to a Sept. 21 nonconference draw. Nonconference play yielded a 3-5-1 mark against regional foes, including losses to then-ranked Lynchburg and Washington College. Cumulative stats show 118 shots on goal from 257 attempts, with a 45.9 percent on-target rate.
St. Mary’s closes the regular season with two matches: a home date against Regent University at 3:30 p.m. today at Roberts Stadium, followed by a trip to Lancaster Bible College on Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. in Herr Stadium. Regent enters at 3-9-1 overall, while Lancaster Bible holds an 8-5-3 mark and 4-2-1 conference record, placing fifth with 13 points.
