COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's soccer team fell into an early hole and never recovered against nationally ranked Franklin & Marshall Wednesday night, eventually dropping a 3-0 decision on a drizzly evening in Collegeville.
Ursinus (3-5, 0-3) came in looking for its first victory over Franklin & Marshall (6-1-3, 2-0-1) since 1995, but the visitors put a quick end to the Bears' upset dreams. Robert Maze scored twice in a span of less than three minutes in the early going for the Diplomats, ranked 14th in the NSCAA Division III poll. The first came on a feed from Jason Tonelli – who came in leading the Centennial Conference in goals and points – from the right post to the front of the goal, where Maze was waiting to punch it in for a 1-0 F&M advantage at 8:53.
Maze struck again just 2:47 later, heading a right-side cross from Ben Draheim past diving Ursinus goalkeeper Vince Maiorino and into the left corner of the net.
Ursinus' best chance came in the 78th minute, when sophomore Ben Amaral left off a pass for freshman Joe Kilday along the right side of the box. The freshman's effort was headed for the lower left corner, but Diplomats goalie Dave Reingold sprawled out for a diving stop to keep the Bears off the board.
Franklin & Marshall added some insurance in the 82nd minute, when Ryan Fincher beat Maiorino high and to the left with a one-timer off a through ball from Ugo Okolie.
Reingold made seven saves, six of them coming after halftime, in his fourth shutout of the season.
Franklin & Marshall's 19 shots were spread out among 13 players. The Diplomats outshot the Bears, 19-8, but Ursinus had a 5-4 edge in corners.
Amaral attempted two shots for Ursinus, both of them on target, and senior Ryan Molyneaux had a booming free kick sail just high in the 30th minute. Each of Kilday's two shots were on goal.
Maiorino finished with five saves.
Ursinus takes on regionally ranked Swarthmore on the road on Saturday.
