BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College men's soccer team notched their first shutout victory of the 2013 campaign downing Curry College, 2-0, in non-conference action Thursday evening at Clemente Field. With the victory the Saints improve to 4-6 overall while the loss drops the Colonels to 4-3-1.

Curry had the first scoring opportunity in the match in the 17^th minute when junior midfielder Nick Gilman (Longmeadow, Mass.) poked a ball past EC goalkeeper Garrett Charette (West Springfield, Mass.) that hit the left post before being cleared away by another Emmanuel defender.

The Saints took the lead during the 30^th minute of play when senior midfielder Danny Richman (Medfield, Mass.) played a long through ball from deep in the middle third of the field to freshman forward Wojciech Kopacz (Garfield, N.J.). Kopacz was able to corral the ball and beat Colonels keeper Nick Barber (Pittsfield, Mass.) with his second goal of the season to make it 1-0. It would prove to be all the hosts would need as they would go on to record their first shutout win since October 13, 2012.

Curry continued to press Emmanuel for the equalizer in the second frame, picking up their intensity and physicality of play. The best chance came in the 62^nd minute as senior midfielder Darren Smith (Newcastle, Del.) found sophomore forward Tim Stein (Smithfield, R.I.) with a feed down the left side of the field. Stein connected with a one-time volley towards the near post but was denied by a diving save from Charette to keep the score at 1-0.

Emmanuel would add a late insurance goal to seal the victory as freshman defender Jeff Allen (South Windsor, Conn.) took a throw in deep in Curry territory with five minutes remaining. The Colonels were unable to mark EC sophomore forward Stefano Sainato (Albany, N.Y.) who took Allen's throw directly to the goal before beating Barber for his team-leading third score of the season to make it 2-0 with just 4:51 to play.

Charette and the Saints were able to hold on for the win as the netminder finished with four saves to earn his sixth career shutout. Barber also finished with four saves for the Colonels.

EC returns to action on Saturday when they head to Nashua, N.H. for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference tilt against Rivier University at 6:00 PM while the Colonels travel to the University of New England the same day for a 1:00 PM match.

(Game Recap Courtesy of Emmanuel Sports Information)