#1 Daniel Webster and #2 Lesley Meet in 2009 NECC Men's Soccer Championship Title Game
2009 NECC MEN'S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals - Sunday, November 8
#6 Elms (3-4, 5-13) at #3 Newbury (5-2, 5-13),
NC 5-1
#5 Mitchell (3-4, 5-11) at #4 Southern Vermont
(3-3-1, 10-7-1), SVC 2-0
Semifinals - Friday, November 6
#1 Daniel Webster (6-1, 10-5) vs. #4 Southern Vermont
(11-7-1), DWC 1-0
#2 Lesley (5-1-1, 14-3-2) vs. #3 Newbury (6-13), LU
1-0
Championship Match - Wednesday, November 4
#2 Lesley (15-3-2) at #1 Daniel Webster (11-5), 1:00 p.m.
(at Daniel Webster)
#1 seed Daniel Webster College slipped past #4 seed Southern Vermont College 1-0 in a tense New England Collegiate Conference men's soccer semifinal meeting Friday afternoon at Eagle Field. The #2 Lesley University Lynx defeated #3 Newbury College Nighthawks 1-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Semifinals to reach to the championship match for the second consecutive season.
Eagles Survive, Advance To Host And Play In First Conference Title Game Sunday
BOX SCORE: http://content.dwc.edu/athletics/MensSoccer/Stats09/DWM16.HTM
NASHUA, N.H. - An own goal just 8:44 into the contest proved to be the difference by the slimmest of margins allowing top seed and host Daniel Webster College to slip past fourth-seeded Southern Vermont College in a tense New England Collegiate Conference men's soccer semifinal meeting Friday afternoon at Eagle Field.
With the win - the first home playoff victory for the Eagles in program history - Daniel Webster (11-5) will host either second seeded Lesley University or third seeded Newbury College Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in the championship tilt.
The game was an intense and physical battle from whistle to whistle as the squads staged a continued back-and-forth battle for field control, combining for 39 total fouls.
The Eagles - who continue to set a new program record for most victories in a season - took their lead after a Mountaineer defender moved to clear a loose ball in front but the attempt deflected off the back of a fellow defender into the net.
Southern Vermont pressed to respond and almost tied it with 11 minutes to go in the first as Nick Haggerty (Wyantskill, N.Y.) sent a low 8-yarder from in front that was knocked down by Eagle keeper Joe Keene (Bristol, N.H.), who would finish with seven stops on the day.
Mountaineer Noah Massucci (Craftsbury, Vt.) followed with a header off a free kick with 3:30 remaining in the period that beat Keene but just missed the open net to the far left.
SVC finished with a 9-5 edge in shots in the opening frame and would end with a 12-8 advantage on the day.
The Eagles' best chance to ice it came with 12 minutes remaining as Tim Amberman (Shrewsbury, Penn.) took a feed from Alex Jackson (Kent, Ohio) from the right side and just missed the top crossbar from 12 yards out.
The Mountaineers pulled keeper Aaron Eschler (Gloversville, N.Y.) forward in the final three minutes and set up for a free kick with under a minute remaining, but the attempt was knocked down and cleared preserving the Eagle victory.
Eschler made four stops for Southern Vermont, which closed its season 11-8-1 overall, it's first winning and best overall season in 18 years.
Lesley defeats Newbury 1-0 to reach NECC Championship
BOX SCORE: http://athletics.lesley.edu/sports/msoc/2009-10/stats/boxscores/lum20.htm
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Lesley University (15-3-2, 5-1-1 NECC) men's soccer team defeated Newbury College (6-14, 5-2 NECC) 1-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Semifinals to reach to the championship match for the second consecutive season. Ari Sinanis (GUILFORD, Conn./Guilford) scored the match's lone goal to lift the Lynx to victory.
Sinanis found the back of the net in the 51st minute of the match after a left-to-right cross by Jimmy Paulsen (MONROE, Conn./Masuk). Sinanis struck the ball to the right corner of the net past Nighthawks keeper William McNally (GRAFTON, Mass./Marian).
Despite giving up the lone goal of the match in the second, McNally was stellar in net as the sophomore tallied 11 saves. McNally was under heavy fire for much of the game as the Lynx took 24 total shots.
Early in the first half, Newbury looked to get on the board first after a series of shots by sophomore Andi Maska (ROSLINDALE, Mass./English) and Shaundize Moosavizadeh (WINCHESTER, Mass./Winchester) were either saved by the keeper Zachary Almeida-Beers (REHOBOTH, Mass./Dighton-Rehoboth) or blocked by the defense.
Almeida-Beers made two saves in the match without giving up a goal, his seventh shutout of the season.
There were two yellow cards given out in the match at 15:25 in the first half. One was given to Lesley's Yair Correa (PAWTUCKET, R.I./St. Raphael Academy) and the other to Alex Chappell (EAST HADDAM, Conn./Nathan Hale-Ray).
Lesley will now move on to play Daniel Webster College on Sunday, November 8 at 1:00 pm in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Story Courtesy of Daniel Webster and Lesley Sports Information
