By Gabrielle Devaud
Sports Writer
There were goals galore in the Shoremen’s soccer game on Saturday versus Penn State-Brandywine. The men’s team kicked off its season
opener at 7 p.m. on the turf winning 7-0. The Shoremen scored the most goals in a game for Washington College since 2001, as it was the fourth time in five years that the Shoremen have won their season opener.
Senior midfielder Gavin Rayburn gave the Shoremen a 1-0 lead when he scored off a cross into the box from freshman forward/midfielder Chris Nardo. Sophomore midfielder/defender Ryan Duffy assisted on the Shoremen’s second goal, when he sent a ball ahead to sophomore Justin Geho, who fired it into the net. The goal was the first of Geho’s collegiate career, and the assist was the first of Duffy’s collegiate career.
The Shoremen scored five more times in the second half. Geho opened the run when he stole the ball from a defender and fired a shot into the goal from 35 yards out. Rayburn then sent a pass back to sophomore defender Robby Gavora, who hooked in his first collegiate goal from 20 yards out. Nardo scored his first collegiate goal after receiving a cross into the box from junior forward Jordan Haas. Rayburn made it 6-0 when he headed in a rebound following a shot off the crossbar. In WC’s seventh goal, Haas sent a cross into the box, which was headed into the goal by a Penn-State defender.
WC had a 23-9 advantage in shots and an 8-3 edge in corner kicks.
Junior goalkeeper Chris Phipps made four saves for the Shoremen, while sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Cabot had one save.
Rayburn, who ended the game with two goals and an assist, started off his senior year with a bang and was named Shoreman of the Week.
After the game he said, “I think the team looked really good. We got some good play out of our younger players and I think we really played like a team on Saturday. We moved the ball around to a lot of guys, which created a lot of opportunities on goal for us. We’re excited about the rest of our season.”
The Shoremen will be competing in the Randolph-Macon Select Tournament in Virginia this weekend with games on both Saturday and Sunday.