Hawkins Double Goal Day Leads Lancers to Draw with Vikings

Worcester, MA- After a grueling, but skilled, match this past Wednesday for the Worcester State Men's Soccer team (3-9-1, 2-2-1), the Lancers are back in action and looking for big conference win as they head to Salem State to take on the Vikings and begin to solidify their postseason placement.

Final

Worcester State: 3

Salem State: 3

How it Happened:

Worcester State would come out ready to play, scoring their first goal eight minutes in off a penalty kick by sophomore Bryan Cavanough (Auburn, MA) to get the action started, but Salem would come out in full force to start today's action and grabbed their first goal 20 minutes into the game to reset the tie score. Just a minute later the Vikings would add a second goal to their slate and put the Lancers on attack notice. Worcester would find their offensive footing after the break in the opening action, recording eight unanswered scoring chances but were unable to find the netting on the early attempts. They would close out the opening half of action down 2-1 but finding their rhythm and ready to change the pace in the second half. 

The change of pace would not initially look promising as Salem would grab their third goal just 15 minutes into the new half, but Worcester was not willing to sit back and concede. Three minutes later senior Mal Hawkins (View Park, CA) would record the Lancers second goal after grabbing the block attempt of fellow senior teammate Waseem Mahmoud (Northborough, MA). A following two minutes later Hawkins would nab his second of the game after a foul by the Falcons to tie the game back up at 3 for both teams. Each team would aim to find the score breaker but each defensive unit would hold off the pressure sending each team home with a tie in their pocket. 

First year Sergio Torrado (Arroyomolinos, ES) ended the match with nine saves while graduate student Manny Ramirez (Waltham, MA) and Cavanough would each end with three shots on cage. 

What's Next:

The Blue and Gold (3-9-2, 2-2-2) return to action next Thursday in their second to last game, and second to last home game, to welcome Keene State in an out of conference battle with the Owls. Kick off is set for 7pm.