NEWPORT NEWS, VA – York College freshman Brendan Saberton (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) scored two goals to power the Spartan men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory at #13 Christopher Newport on a muggy Sunday afternoon in Newport News, VA. The Spartans improve to 2-0 while the Captains fall to 0-1-1 on the young campaign.

The victory handed the Spartans the tournament championship of the 2012 Joe Pombriant/CNU Classic as the Green and White went 2-0. Virginia Wesleyan went 1-1 while #1 Ohio Wesleyan and #13 CNU both went 0-1-1. It is the fifth time the Spartans have captured the Pombriant/CNU Classic championship.

Saberton has made a significant impact on the Spartan squad early as he has already recorded three of the Spartans' seven goals on the year.

The two squads struggled to find their groove early on in the match. The Spartans slowly started to establish momentum around 20 minutes into the match. That momentum coincided with Saberton entering the game at the 21-minute mark.  The Spartans got a pair of corner kicks before Saberton found the back of the net. The Spartan freshman received a crossing pass from junior Daniel Baxter (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall College) and tucked a shot inside the left side of the net for the tally.

Saberton struck again just under seven minutes later as he collected a loose ball in the box off a Captains' failed clear attempt on a Spartan corner kick. He settled the ball and deposited a shot past CNU keeper Sean Killion for the goal.

The Spartans had another chance on a free kick from about 25 yards out with a minute left in the half but senior Cody Pearson (Crofton, Md./DeMatha Catholic) couldn't put the attempt on frame and the Green and White took the two goal edge to the half.

The Captains trimmed the Spartan lead to one in the 63^rd minute as Andrew Bonorden was on the receiving end of a nice play by Michael Zimmerman and Caleb Lewis. Zimmerman played the ball from the middle out to Lewis who was wide on the right flank. Lewis then played the ball back to Bonorden in the middle who fired a shot into the left side netting.

The two squads had limited chances over the final 25 minutes of the game as York maintained the lead and got the key road victory.

The final statistics finished with the Spartans holding a slight favor overall. Both teams fired off 10 total shots but the Green and White had a 7-4 edge in shots on goal. The Spartans also held a 5-3 margin in corner kicks.

Freshman goalie Leonardo Romero (Philadelphia, Pa./LaSalle College) earned his second win of the season as he notched three saves. Killion recorded five saves for the Captains.

The Spartans return to action on Saturday when they host McDaniel in the opening round of the Holiday Inn Conference Center Classic in York. Kick off is slated for 12:30 pm at Graham Field. That contest will be followed by William Paterson and Susquehanna at 3:30 pm.

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

ECNL Girls N. Atlantic Players to Watch

Women's NCAA Tournament Round Two Preview

Best of Men's College Soccer Week 13