ST. MARY’S CITY — St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s men’s soccer team broke open a scoreless match with two second-half goals and beat Penn College 2-0 on Saturday, Oct. 31, sending the Seahawks to the United East Conference semifinals for the ninth consecutive season.
Sophomore midfielder Marco Mazzola scored his first goal of the season and senior forward Franco Reyes added an insurance goal for the No. 4-seeded Seahawks (9-8-1, 5-2-1 United East), according to the college’s recap and box score. Senior goalkeeper Jordon Eckman made two saves for his second straight clean sheet.
The home playoff game was one the Seahawks earned on the final weekend of the regular season, when they clinched it at Cairn in the match that gave coach Oliver a 150th career win.
Patience pays off
St. Mary’s College controlled the first half, outshooting the Wildcats 8-1, but Penn College goalkeeper Justin Crismale made two saves to keep it scoreless at the break.
The breakthrough came at 53:49. Senior forward Lucas Evans, a South River High School graduate, slipped a short pass to Mazzola just outside the penalty area, and Mazzola drove it into the upper right corner.
Evans has been the Seahawks’ hottest attacker this fall. He was named United East Offensive Player of the Week last week after scoring three goals in five minutes against Penn State Berks.
With about 10 minutes left, junior midfielder Zach Blaum’s shot was saved, and Reyes pounced on the rebound at 80:28 for his fifth goal of the season.
By the numbers
St. Mary’s College finished with a 20-7 edge in shots, 6-3 in shots on goal and 7-1 in corner kicks. Reyes led the Seahawks with four shots. Evans and Blaum each took three shots and had an assist. For Penn College (8-6-5), Scott Goldfeder had two shots and Crismale finished with three saves.
Up next
The Seahawks, who won the United East tournament in 2023 and 2024, travel to Abington, Pa., to face No. 1 seed Penn State Abington (11-4-4) in a semifinal at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, at Memorial Field. Tickets for United East championship games are sold through the Hudl app.
