South Portland, ME – CMCC Men's Soccer stayed perfect on the season after a 3-2 win on the road against archrival Southern Maine. The Mustangs took a 3-0 lead in the first half, including a goal just nine seconds into the game, before holding off the Seawolves in the second half for a one-goal victory. Captain Mitch Cameron scored twice, on either side of a Matthew Greco tally, while Albie Fozard-Oakes collected his eighth assist in the last three matches.
Cameron got the game off to a red-hot start. SMCC had the opening kick-off, and sent it back to their defensive line, dropping a pass to Ethan Homa. The Southern Maine goalkeeper took a heavy touch, allowing Cameron to continue sprinting forward to put him under pressure. The sophomore midfielder nicked the ball off Homa's foot before he could clear it up field, allowing him to simply roll it into the empty net. The quickfire strike took just nine seconds to make it 1-0 and stunned the home fans.
Things went from bad to worse for the home goalkeeper in the 21st minute. Daniel Semple received a throw-in near the halfway line and volleyed the ball over his head, creating a two-on-two rush for Cameron and Greco. An Seawolves defender attempted to clear the ball but sent it straight up in the air and drifting into the penalty area. Homa reacted and came off his line, but while the goalkeeper tried to head the ball away, he inadvertently sent it backwards behind him. Greco got a touch to send it towards open net, and even a desperate slide from a defender wasn't enough to keep it from crossing the line. It was the Montreal, QC native's fourth goal of his freshman campaign.
Cameron doubled his tally to make it 3-0 inside of half an hour. Southern Maine captain Ignacio Ruiz Garcia was whistled for a foul just outside the area on the left side of the box, giving the visitors a free kick from a sharp angle. Fozard-Oakes took the set piece quickly, finding an unmarked Cameron slowly walking towards the front post. He took advantage of the miscommunication in marking for a simple header into the open corner.
Head coach Dalton Wing made a host of changes int the final 15 minutes of the first half but went into the break worryingly having not scored a goal from open play without a costly defensive mistake providing the opening. The Seawolves came out in the second half looking much better and showed why this had been such a highly anticipated match-up between the preseason #1 and #4 ranked squads.
Jaxon Olsen pulled a goal back just six minutes after the restart. Cole Adawadkar fed Louis Sehr who sent in a cross from the left side of the box. Olsen stooped low to head the ball in between two defenders, making it 3-1 and putting some wind back in the home side's sails.
Ruiz Garcia made amends for his earlier foul by uncorking an unstoppable shot from the right corner of the box, shooting back against the grain into the top corner, making it a one-goal game in the 67th minute. The Mustangs suffered another blow just seconds later when team captain and center back Alfie Bashford went off with a game-ending injury.
From there, Central Maine survived a tense final few minutes. Goalkeeper Cody Cleaveland came up with a phenomenal save in the 86th minute, clawing away a Chandrel Laza effort that appeared destined for the top corner.
The sophomore from Richmond, ME finished with nine saves. SMCC had a 19-11 edge in shots and both teams finished with double-digit fouls in a physical game between the two rivals. Massimo Di Pilato received a yellow card for the Mustangs while four Seawolves went into the referee's book. The victory was Central Maine's sixth straight against Southern Maine dating back to 2023. The teams meet again for their Yankee Small College Conference game in Auburn on October 6th.
Next up, CMCC looks to keep its unbeaten start to the season going with a visit to USCAA DI side UMaine-Fort Kent on Saturday. The Mustangs and Bengals get things started at 4:00 pm.
