Box Score (Photo courtesy Jennifer Langille Photography)
NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's soccer team picked up a clean sweep for the weekend as the Cadets avenged last year's season opening loss to Johnson State with a 3-0 shutout win over the Badgers on Sunday afternoon at Howard Field.
Senior midfielder Garrett Shufelt (Clifton Park, N.Y.) along with junior midfielders Eric Weir (Ipswich, Mass.) and Billy Flanagan (Oxford, N.Y.) each netted goals to account for the Norwich offense on the day.
The victory moved Norwich head coach Kyle Dezotell into a tie with Bob Friske (1995-2002) for the program's all-time career coaching wins record with 88 wins.
The Cadets (6-3-0, 3-1-0 GNAC) broke into the scoring column in the 13th minute when Shufelt finished off a set piece chance created by junior center back Ryan Campbell (Damascus, Md.) heading the ball over to him after sophomore midfielder Chris Bristol (Clinton, Conn.) served the ball in off a free kick.
Bristol picked up his team-leading seventh assist of the season when he found Campbell on the end line and then the co-captain centered the ball back toward the goal to a wide open Shufelt who knocked it into the back of the net on one touch to give the Cadets a 1-0 lead.
In the 30th minute, Weir finished off a chance created by an excellent run from Mike Ravenelle (Merrimack, N.H.) on the left wing as he beat his man and then dribbled into the penalty box before crossing the ball over to Weir who put it home for his first goal of the season.
Flanagan capped the scoring in the 66th minute finishing off a pass from senior co-captain Colin Pope (Tunbridge, Vt.) to give the Cadets a 3-0 lead.
Norwich outshot Johnson State 28-2 and had six corner kicks to the Badgers' none.
Sophomore goalkeeper Greg Payne (State College, Pa.) made his second straight start and picked up the victory to improve to 2-1 on the year while making one save. Sam Martin was saddled with the loss for Johnson State after making four saves on seven shots on net.
The Cadets return to action next Saturday at 3:15 p.m. when they take on league-leading Albertus Magnus in New Haven, Conn. for the first time since NU stunned the top-ranked Falcons in last year's GNAC Tournament semifinals.
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