Hounane's Goal Leads Vikings Past Buccaneers

Jose Rodriguez '24, Staff Writer | Media & Communications 

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. - In a MASCAC matchup at Clean Harbors Stadium, the Salem State Vikings emerged victorious with a 1-0 win over the Massachusetts Maritime Buccaneers. With the win, Salem State improved their record to 6-2-2, 3-0-0, while the Mass Maritime slipped to 1-6-2, 0-2-1. The Vikings have now won the last five meetings against the Buccaneers, including the last four meetings by shutout. 

The game began with Salem State dominating the field, earning two corner kicks in the first six minutes of play. However, they were unable to convert them into goals. The Vikings' goalkeeper, Matt Hauntsman (Milford, N.H.), made a great save when John Burke (Hulle, Mass.) kicked the ball from 18 feet out. Despite Vikings captain Brendan Walsh (Westford, Mass.)  setting up Vanilton Xavier (Brockton, Mass.) with a brilliant pass, the offside call on the field waived off Xavier's headshot into the net, and the score remained scoreless 21 minutes into the game. 

Salem State continued to push into the Buccaneers' zone, but they couldn't execute as the Buccaneers cleared the ball out of bounds. It was Walaeddine Hounane (Salem, N.H.) who finally broke the scoreless game and scored the first goal of the game for Salem State. With his incredible speed, Hounane kicked the ball eight feet from the net and beat PJ Cullivan (Weymouth, Mass.) of the Buccaneers to take a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute of play. 

Late in the first half, Salem State was in control and looking to increase their lead. Hounane almost scored his second goal of the game, but it just missed by inches as it hit the top of the crossbar. At the end of the first half, Salem State had a 1-0 lead over the Buccaneers, with the Vikings having four shots on goal compared to the Buccaneers' one shot on goal. 

After the game Hounane talked about his goal that proved to be the game-winner. "We were missing a couple of guys today so a couple of us have to step up and do what we had to, to get the win. I just took advantage of the minutes that I had and tried to make the most of it." 

In the second half, the Buccaneers were looking to tie the game, but Brody Calvert's (Windsor, Mass.) shot curved outside of the net in the last second, missing to tie the game by just inches. As the game progressed, both teams were evenly matched, but Salem State's goalkeeper, Hauntsman, saved all three shots during the game, while Massachusetts Maritime Academy's goalkeeper Kaden Winter (Walpole, Mass.) stopped four shots.  

After the game coach Correia talked about the win. " Mass Maritime always play us tough so we're just happy that we were able to come on the road and get the three points that we wanted." 

Salem State will return to Alumni Field this upcoming Wednesday when they will take on Wheaton (Mass). Game time is scheduled at 7:00 p.m.