Mangione, Hoffer lead Towson men past Mount St. Mary's, 2-0

Senior midfielder Marco Mangione (Calvert Hall College H.S./Parkville, Md.) and sophomore forward Zach Hoffer (Great Oak H.S./Temecula, Calif.) each scored a goal as Towson University (1-0-0) opened its season with a 2-0 non-conference victory over Mount St. Mary’s University (0-1-0) at the Mountaineers’ Waldron Family Stadium on Wednesday evening.

“We knew that Mount St. Mary’s was going to be a tough opponent, especially when you play at their home field,” Towson Coach Frank Olszewski said. “They are very difficult to break down and it proved to be that way for us.

“We went down a man late in the first half and our guys were able to show some composure and get the win,” Coach Olszewski added.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the 39th minute when Mangione scored with a shot to the far post off an assist from senior defender Phil Greatwich (Lewes, East Sussex, England).

With 4:24 remaining in regulation, Hoffer upped the Tiger lead to 2-0 when he took a pass from junior forward Liam Maloney (Liverpool, England) and scored on a shot from 15 yards away for the first goal of his college career.

Led by junior goalkeeper John Steele (Dorset, England), the Tiger defense held the Mountaineers to just six shots. Steele made two saves en route to the eighth shutout of his college career.

Senior goalkeeper Chris Davis (Townsville, Australia) made two saves for The Mount, which was outshot by a 10-6 margin.

College Men’s Soccer: Towson University 2, Mount St. Mary’s University 0
Towson (1-0-0) 1 1 - 2
Mt. St. Mary’s (0-1-0) 0 0 - 0

Goals: TOW – Marco Mangione 1 (38:49), Zach Hoffer 1 (85:36). Assists: TOW – Phil Greatwich 1, Liam Maloney 1. Saves: TOW – John Steele 2 (90:00, 0 goals allowed); MSM – Chris Davis 2 (90:00, 2 goals allowed). Shots: TOW – 10; MSM – 6. Corner Kicks: TOW – 3; MSM – 4. Attendance: 407.

Corner Kicks: The Tigers and the Mountaineers met for the 37th time in a series which Towson leads by a 20-13-3 margin … The Tigers were making their first appearance at Mount St. Mary’s since the 1992 season … Freshmen Kay Banjo and Enrico Skrypzak made the first starts of their college careers on Wednesday night … Freshman Quinn Meehan made his first career appearance as a substitute in the second half … The Tigers played with ten men for the final 56 minutes after junior defender Josh Spivey was issued a red card for a foul outside the penalty area …