Catholic Notches Shutout Win over Seahawks
Washington, D.C. - The Catholic University men's soccer team tallied a goal in each half in posting their sixth consecutive victory as the Cardinals (8-1) registered a 2-0 win Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action over St. Mary's College of Maryland.
Junior midfielder Matt Hofrichter (Great River, N.Y./East Islip) sent in a cross from the right side through traffic and junior midfielder Kevin Duffy (Marlton, N.J./Bishop Eustace) drove it in inside the left post for the early 1-0 lead at 14:37.
Despite outshooting the Cardinals 4 to 2 in the first half, St. Mary's (3-7) had three shots stray wide and one denied by junior Thomas O'Leary (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) as Catholic owned a 1-0 margin at halftime.
The Seahawks' offensive struggles continued in the second half as St. Mary's was unable to capitalize on three corner kicks and three of its six shots were stopped by O'Leary.
Freshman defender Mike Brennan (Feasterville, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) gave Catholic a two-goal cushion at 51:35 as Brennan took the ball away from the Seahawk defense and fired a shot that bounced off the bottom of the crossbar near the left post.
St. Mary's finished with a 10-8 edge in shots, while corner kicks were knotted at four apiece.
O'Leary finished with four saves in recording his second win of the season.
Junior Paul Spranklin (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) nabbed two stops in the loss.
St. Mary's will return to action this Saturday, October 3 as the Seahawks entertain Marymount (Va.) University in a Capital Athletic Conference tilt at 2:00 pm.
