This Saturday, the Wheaton College men’s soccer team will host the second annual Cushing Cup.
The event is in honor of legendary Wheaton head coach Matt Cushing, who passed away in August of 2017. Cushing patrolled the sidelines for 23 years at Wheaton. He took over the program in 1994 and compiled a 328-113-43 overall record and 83-24-11 mark in the New England Men's and Women's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). Cushing was a New England native, who captained the UMass men’s soccer team in 1986 and 1987 and is a member of the Duxbury (Mass.) High School Hall of Fame.
The Cushing Cup is a four-team round robin event that will feature Division 3 sides Wheaton, Brandeis, Roger Williams and Wentworth. All games will be played on Saturday, starting with Wentworth vs. Wheaton at noon. The champion will be the team with the most points after their three games. Goal differential will serve as the tie-breaker.
"It’s a tremendous honor. I’m in Matt Cushing’s coaching circle, I knew Matt, and he’s always a part of our Wheaton program," said Wheaton head coach Bryan Waggoner, who took over in 2018. "He was so instrumental in building the Wheaton program to a top team in Division 3 soccer in New England. He means a lot to me and to our team. We always want to keep his spirit alive and honor coach Cushing in a fun and competitive way. He was a fun-loving guy, people who knew him knew that he was great to be around. But he was unbelievably competitive as well
