Vikings Open 2024 Season With A Victory

Jose Rodriguez '24, Staff Writer | Media & Communications 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. –  Salem State freshmen Cameron Smith (Beverly, Mass.), Connor Vittands (Gloucester, Mass.), and graduate student Timothy Eddings each recorded five goals apiece as Salem State opened the 2024 campaign with an 18-6 victory over MCLA on Saturday afternoon at  Ron Shoecraft Field.  The Vikings begin the young season 1-0, while the Trailblazers stand at 0-1.

Prior to the game, coach Stephen Driscoll talked about the first game of the season. "It is really exciting, we have a lot of great new guys to our program and some really impactful freshman playing in their first college game. I think it is a great ride out here, nice campus, nice cold winter February day. I'm really kind of excited to see where we are at after three or four weeks of lift, practice, team meeting. The kids are really ready and excited to play."  

Senior captain Kyle Tammaro (Saugus, Mass.) spoke about the keys of the game to beat the Trailblazers. "They key is to play as a team. It takes more than one person to get the job done today. You know you are locked up on defense getting all the groundballs in the midfield and in the offensive end." He also added the importance of striking first and building on to the lead against MCLA. "It is super important, the biggest thing for us especially on a cold day like this is coming out with a ton of energy, scoring the first goal, second goal, third goal while getting stop after stop. It will be super important for us."  

During, the first period they was a lot of action. The Trailblazers had a man advantage when Nathan Haley (North Adams, Mass.) scored a goal from the left side, assisted by Anthony Andolina (Ballston Spa), taking advantage of Mike Zarro's (Peabody, Mass.) penalty in the first minute of the period. However, the Vikings bounced back with two quick goals by Smith and Eddings, with  Vittands credited with the assist for Eddings' goal. This forced MCLA to call a time out.

Collins picked up the groundball, passed it to Vittands, who scored the third goal for the Vikings at the 10:30 mark putting Salem State up 3-1. Smith scored his second goal of the game at the 8:22 mark, with Vittands credited with his second assist of the game. Smith then scored his third goal of the game, turning his body to the right side and shooting the ball inside the net, with Vittands credited for his third assist of the game.

Salem State managed to score their sixth goal of the game despite being down a man. The Vikings continued to dominate, with Haley scoring his second goal of the game, giving Salem State a 6-2 lead over MCLA heading into the second period. Smith recorded a hat-trick during the first period.

After the game Smith talked about his performance. "The ball movement was good, the team worked hard definitely.  We have some things we have to improve on. It is going to be a long season, but we had a good win."

The second period saw the Vikings attack the zone, and their efforts paid off, with Salem State scoring twice in a span of 57 seconds, Smith notched his fourth goal of the day at the 11:43 mark, giving the Vikings an impressive 7-2 lead. Eddings then recorded a hat-trick, increasing Salem State's lead to 8-2.

Tammaro was sent to the box for a two-minute major for contact to the head, but despite being down a man, Vittands scored his second goal of the game at the 3:55 mark, giving the Vikings a seven-point lead.

At the half, Salem State had 31 groundballs compared to MCLA's 15. The Vikings dominated on shots on goal, with 40 compared to the Trailblazers' 15. Salem State couldn't convert either of their two chances with an extra man compared to MCLA's conversion of one of their three chances. Salem State goalie Ryan Cohen (Bedford, Mass.) saved three of five shots, while Boden Dock (Norway, ME)  saved 18 of 27 shots.

Coach Driscoll talked about what the message was at the half. "The message at the half was really a 0-0 mentality. We really wanted to make sure that every single time we look at the scoreboard it says zeros even though it might say different numbers [be]cause if we are always at the 0-0 mentality, it means that we have to be focused that much more on the groundballs, or the next play, the next pass…"

In the third period both the Vikings and the Trailblazers were keen on scoring goals. Finally, it was Liam Bernardi (Medford, Mass.) from the Vikings who managed to beat Dock and score a goal, leading his team to a 10-2 advantage. Bernaidi was ecstatic and highly emotional on the field when he scored the goal at the 12:57 mark.  

Eddings scored his fourth goal of the game at the 8:06 mark, with an assist from Collins. The Trailblazers managed to add a goal to the scoreboard at the 4:28 mark, with Neal Brierley (Cheshire, Mass.) scoring, making the score 11-3. Smith from the Vikings scored his fifth goal of the game, showcasing an impressive performance, and taking the score to 12-3 just before the period was about to end. As the period was about to expire, Vittands scored one more goal for the Vikings with Smith credited with the assist.

In the early minutes of the final period, Eddings scored a goal on the right side, with Smith assisting him. MCLA's Josh Hemstock (Amity, Ct) took a shot from about 15 feet at the 11:28 mark. The Vikings responded quickly with Vittands scoring one more goal at the 10:48 mark, with Smith assisting him, taking Salem State's lead to 15-4. The Vikings added three more goals, while the Trailblazers added two more.

After the game Coach Driscoll talked about the victory. "I think program wise, hopefully a changing win for us that keeps moving us in the right direction. A lot of stuff we can learn from it positively and some stuff we need to improve on, but I give all the credit to the guys. 

Salem State had a total of 58 ground balls throughout the game, compared to MCLA's 27. The Trailblazers had 27 turnovers, while the Vikings had 14. Both teams had a success rate of 1 out of 7 on extra man opportunities. Cohen, the Vikings' goalkeeper, saved 5 of the 9 shots, playing for 56 minutes before being replaced by Jack Zenger (Baltimore, Md.), who played the final four minutes of the game. Zenger allowed a goal on the only shot attempted at him.

Salem State will remain on the road to take on Anna Maria this upcoming Tuesday, February 27. Game time scheduled for 5 p.m.