Paxton, Mass. – Mount Ida College used a goal and an assist from Carlos Martinez (Chelsea, Martinez) and a shutout from goalie Mat Pils (Monroe, Conn.) to secure a 3-0 victory over Anna Maria in Saturday afternoon's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer game at AMCAT Field.
With the win, Mount Ida improves to 4-4-1 (2-1 GNAC), while Anna Maria dips to 3-4-1 (0-3 GNAC).
Senior Steve McDonald (Medford, Mass.) put the Mustangs ahead fifteen minutes into the second half when he picked the pocket of the AMCAT defender and broke in alone to deposit the ball in the back of the net.
Just two minutes later, freshman Elias Mejia (Freehold, N.J.) centered a pass to Martinez, who scored for the fifth consecutive game to push the lead to 2-0.
Martinez found Nick Rivas-Vasquez (Hamden, Conn.) in the 69th minute for an insurance marker, as the Mustangs outshot their opponents 26-6.
Pils made four saves to collect his fourth clean sheet of the season.
The teams played a scoreless first half, however the Mustangs dominated in shots (14-2) and corners (5-0).
Amcats sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Dahl (Marlton, N.J.) made a fingertip save off the foot of the Ida striker last in the stanza to keep the game at 0-0 heading into intermission.
Dahl had 11 saves and senior Justin Hyland (Leicester, Mass.) had two shots, but the hosts were unable to find many quality scoring opportunities. They also did not win a corner kick, while Mount Ida had three chances from the corner flag.
Anna Maria could only muster 4 shots on net for the day while the Mustangs countered with 14 shots on goal.
Mount Ida has a conference showdown with rival Lasell College next Saturday night at Alumni Field. The game, which will cap the festivities of homecoming weekend, is set to kick off at 6:00 pm.
The AMCATS return to non-conference action on Tuesday, October 1 at WPI at 4:00 p.m.