Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Soccer team opened the 2018 season in strong fashion on Friday night with a 2-0 blanking of visiting Gwynedd Mercy. Senior Matthew Fuge (Avon, Conn.) and freshman Matt Flanagan (Rhinebeck, N.Y.) each scored their first goals of the season in the win.
 
Mount Saint Mary carried the play for much of the contest, recording six shots in the opening 10 minutes of action. The Knights finally broke through with the eventual game winning goal in the 21st minute when Fuge finished off a feed from freshman Matthew Wyant (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.). Wyant worked a ball through to Fuge who eased his first tally of the year past the Griffins' keeper at the 20:27 mark of the contest.
 
The Mount doubled its advantage in the last stages of the first stanza when Flanagan found the back of the net for the first time in his career with 90 seconds left before the intermission. Senior Fred Stark (Hollis, N.Y.) crossed a ball along the goal line that Flanagan headed in for the 2-0 halftime advantage.
 
Mount Saint Mary outshot the visitors 11-0 in the opening 45 minutes and took each of the four corner kicks that were awarded before halftime.
 
Although they did not score after halftime, the Knights held a 6-3 edge in shots in the second half and took two more corner kicks.
 
Sophomore Jakup Myrtja (Ulcinj, Montenegro) earned his first win of the season in goal making a single save. The shutout is the second of his career as he evens his career record at 3-3. Gwynedd Mercy goalkeeper, Kace Peters, finished with five saves for the Griffins.
 
For the match, Mount Saint Mary held a 17-3 advantage in shots, including an 8-1 edge in shots on goal. Corner kicks also went the way of the Knights, 6-2.

At 1-0, Mount Saint Mary will return to action on Sunday when it welcomes Vassar to Kaplan Field. Kick-off with the Brewers is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.