CASTLETON, Vt. - Clark men's soccer (2-1-0) earned a strong non-conference victory over Castleton University (1-1-0) on Sunday afternoon from Dave Wolk Stadium. 

Senior Alex Maiorano's pair of goals in the first half set the tone for the Cougars, who never looked back in a very complete performance. Junior Ezekiel Palmer netted the other Clark goal. 

Coach O'Toole and Maiorano's Thoughts

"Very good collective performance today by the team," said O'Toole. "Glad to see that we were rewarded with goals from our attacking chances today vs. yesterday. We have some nice momentum leading into yet another busy week of fixtures for us."

"We bounced back from a tough game on Saturday today," said Maiorano. "I found Brian on a pass on the top of the 18, he played me back and I had a nice one touch shot that found the corner for a goal. Then about 20 minutes later, I found the corner of the 18, Castleton gave me some space, took a touch in on my right foot, and I was able to find the side netting to give us a 2-0 lead early in the game. We were able to close the game out and come away with a 3-0 win on the road."

How It Happened

• Clark began their offensive attack early, with a shot by senior Brian Brennan in the second minute of the match.
• Maiorano scored his second goal of the season in the seventh minute, with the goal being assisted by Brennan, his third assist of the young season.
• Maiorano scored his second goal of the game in 20th minute for the scarlet and white, after receiving a pass from sophomore Teddy Donahue, securing his second assist of the season.
• Late in the first half, first-year William Lopez had a shot on goal saved by Castleton keeper Andres Soto-Burgos.
• Castleton's Lucas McCane nearly broke the drought for the Spartans, but his shot with the crossbar in the 59th minute before Palmer put up another shot on goal for Clark in the 76th minute, but it was saved by Soto-Burgos.
• Tyler Manley took his first career shot in a Clark uniform late in the match, again saved by Soto-Burgos.
• In the 83rd minute, Palmer scored his first goal of the season for Clark to widen the margin to 3-0, with Manley earning his first career assist on the play.
• Playing in his first career game for Clark, first-year Zachary Kratz recorded a shot on goal in the 89th minute.

Inside the Box Score

• The Cougars had the offensive advantage over the Spartans, recording 17 shots to Castleton's six and Clark managed to put eight of those shots on goal. 
• The scarlet and white took four corner kicks compared to two for the Spartans with both teams recording 13 fouls.
• Maiorano notched his second career multi-goal game, previously scoring a pair of goals against Rivier University in 2018.
• Junior goalkeeper Caleb Rosenthal-Vincenti earned his first career start for the Cougars. Rosenthal-Vincenti made the most of the opportunity, saving the only shot on goal from the Spartans in a shoutout performance.
• Lopez took a career-high three shots for Clark, with two shots on goal.

What's Next

Clark will look to earn a second straight win on Wednesday when they host Framingham State at the Granger Athletic Field. The match kicks off at 7:00 p.m.