NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (Oct. 14) – The Waynesburg University men's soccer team found itself in a shootout with the Westminster Titans on Saturday. When the final whistle blew, the Yellow Jackets' balanced offensive attack led the road team to a 5-3 win.
The victory was Waynesburg's (8-4-1, 5-2-1) over the Titans (3-8-3, 0-7-1) since 2015. The Jackets' eight overall wins are the most for the program 2014, as are their five conference triumphs.
Five different Jackets found the back of the net for the victors. The first goal scorer for Waynesburg was junior
Seth Massotti (Douglass, Mass. / Whitinsville Christian), who put his team up 1-0 late in the 23
rd minute. Westminster answered with goals in the 26
th and 35
th minutes to take its first-and-only lead of the day.
The Orange and Black answered the back-to-back scores with four-straight to take firm control of the contest. A goal by senior
Alexander White (Bluefield, Va. / Graham) in the 39
th minute tied things back up at 2-2. Sophomore
Alex Canestraro (Wheeling, W.Va. / Wheeling Park) provided his squad with a go-ahead tally with just over two minutes to play before halftime.
Nearly 15 minutes into the second half, freshman
Zachary Johnson (Raceland, Ky. / St. Joseph Central Catholic) continued his outstanding rookie campaign with his team-leading 10
th of the season to make the score 4-2. Graduate student
Samuel Hawkins (Great Mills, Md. / Great Mills) wrapped up the scoring for Waynesburg by splitting the pipes with just over 27 minutes remaining in the contest.
Westminster ended the Jacket run with a goal late in the 64
th minute, but it was too little, too late, as the two teams played a scoreless 25:07 to close out the contest.
Waynesburg scored its five goals on just nine shots on goal. The Jackets picked up the win despite being outshot 21-13 on the evening. The Jackets had a slight 9-8 edge in shots on goal. The Titans held a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks, and Waynesburg nearly doubled up Westminster 16-9 in fouls.
Junior
Michael Francus (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park) earned the win in goal after making five saves over 90 minutes of work.
Waynesburg heads outside of the PAC on Monday, when it travels to Penn State Altoona. Start time is scheduled for 6 p.m.