POULTNEY, Vt. – A goal in the fifth minute proved to be all that would be needed Saturday evening as the visiting Southern Vermont College men's soccer team went on to notch its first shutout of the year, downing Green Mountain College 3-0 in non-conference play.
The Mountaineers scored 11 minutes later to bring a 2-0 advantage into the halftime break, and SVC added another piece of insurance with about 25 minutes left in regulation for the final tally.
Southern Vermont junior Paddy McGovern (Cheshire, England) continued the great start to his rookie collegiate season, notching all three goals for the Mountaineers to give him four for the week and six for the season. It is his first career hat-trick.
While Green Mountain now holds a 10-6 all-time series lead, Southern Vermont has won five of its last six meetings with the Eagles. SVC improves to 3-2 on the year, posting that start to a season for the first time since 2011.
The Mountaineers return home for a Tuesday non-conference match against Lyndon State College, their final game before starting league play taking place at 4 p.m. at Everett Field.
Sophomores Nikolas Joseph (Coventry, Conn.) and Matthew Hatch (Sahuarita, Ariz.) each had an assist for Southern Vermont in the win, as did freshman Daniel Rangel (San Antonio, Texas).
SVC freshman keeper Chris Jimenez (Newark, N.J.) posted his first career shutout, making two saves in the victory (3-2).
It was just 4:04 after the opening kickoff that Southern Vermont took to the scoreboard as McGovern finished off a feed from Joseph. McGovern chipped the ball over the Eagles' goalkeeper, beating the outstretched netminder for the quick 1-0 lead.
Early in the 16th minute, McGovern found the back of the net once again for his second multi-goal game of the year. Rangel played a pass through the middle of the field, and McGovern used a nice touch to settle the ball before lining a low shot past the GMC goalie.
The 2-0 score held for the remaining 30 minutes of the first half and through almost 20 minutes of the second stanza. McGovern ended the scoreless streak, however, as he capped his first collegiate hat-trick to all-but-end it. Hatch played a pass up the field, and McGovern sent a low shot into the cage for his sixth tally of the year.
The Mountaineers were able to keep Green Mountain off the board in the later stages of the match, finishing off their third win of the year and second straight over the Eagles.
– #LetsGoSVC –