Tartans Win Fourth Straight First Round NCAA Game

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The 12th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University men's soccer team defeated Virginia Wesleyan College 3-1 in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship on Saturday, November 16 in Pittsburgh. The win marks the Tartans fourth straight first round win and advances them to the second round with an overall record of 12-2-3.

The Tartans got on the board first after senior Max Tassano (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Lower Merion) was fouled inside the box by the keeper trying to make a play on the ball Tassano was taking to goal. Senior Chris Wysocki (Newtown, Pa./Germantown Academy) put in the penalty kick for his eighth marker of the year and the Tartans' 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute.

Sophomore Connor Webb (Dallas, Texas/J.J. Pearce) had a shot hit the crossbar in the opening minutes of the second half while senior Jerome Reano (Albuquerque, N.M./Saint Pius X) had a shot saved in the 55th minute.

The Marlins equalized in the 64th minute when Brian Cornell picked up a loose ball outside the 18-yard box, juggled it to the left and then used a side volley left-footed shot that was too powerful for Tartan senior keeper Christopher Madden (Reisterstown, Md./Calvert Hall) to stop.

Virginia Wesleyan continued to pressure the Tartans defense but it was up to the challenge as the Marlins only got one shot off, which was saved by the foot of defender Ben Bryant (Toledo, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) in the 69th minute.

Ten minutes later the Tartans were in their final third when freshman Tristan Lockwood (Victor, N.Y./Vicor) played short pass inside to Wysocki who then played it wide to Webb. Webb made a move around the outside defender and slotted a pass off the goalline to the six-yard box where Wysocki one-touched the eventual game winner past Marlin keeper Connor Kirkham.

Reano made the margin two in favor of the Tartans in the 84th minute after Lockwood curled a ball down the sideline past a defender for the senior to run onto. Reano then took it in to goal and finished the one-on-one with the keeper for his fourth goal of the year.

The Tartans will face the winner of Misericordia University and #22 Montclair State University on Sunday, November 17 at 1:30 p.m. on their home field on the campus of Carnegie Mellon.