No. 7 Men's Soccer Falls to No. 1 Lasell, 2-1 In NAC Tournament Championship Game
NO. 7 MEN'S SOCCER FALLS TO NO.
1 LASELL, 2-1
IN NAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
NEWTON, MA, Nov. 4, 2006 - Elms College freshman forward Sean Moylan (Chicopee, MA) netted his team-leading seventh goal of season, but Lasell sophomore forward Zach Gagne (Somerset, MA) scored the game-winning goal and added an assist to lift the No. 1 Lasers over No. 7 Elms College 2-1 in Saturday afternoon's North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Tournament Championship men's soccer game at Taylor Field.
Elms College, which attempted to win its first NAC Championship since 2001, finished 8-10-1.
Lasell, meanwhile, improved to 15-5 overall and advanced to next week's NCAA Division III Championship as the NAC's automatic qualifier.
"I am very proud of this team," Elms College head coach John Amaral said. "I told the guys at halftime we were going to come back and to their credit we did. I thought we played well, but made two crucial mistakes and Lasell made us pay both times."
Lasell College broke a scoreless tie in the 21st minute when Gagne placed a beautiful cross to sophomore forward Jeff Danso (Worcester, MA), who blasted a shot past Elms College sophomore goalkeeper Phil Joyce (Ashland, NH) from the top of the six-yard box to give the Lasers a 1-0 lead.
Gagne and Danso hooked up again in the 48th minute when Gagne sent a long ball to Danso on the endline. Danso then placed a quick one-touch pass back to Gagne, who beat Joyce to extend Lasell's lead to 2-0.
Moylan cut the Lasers' lead to 2-1 when he collected a beautiful long-ball from freshman midfielder Ben Masse (Chicopee, MA), fought off two Lasell defenders and blasted a shot from the top of the 18-yard box past Lasell freshman goalkeeper Julian Dutton (Madison, CT).
Lasell nearly regained a two-goal advantage in the 68th minute, but Elms College freshman forward Brian Murca (Chicopee, MA) cleared Lasell freshman midfielder Shane Vinnicombe's (Pomfret, CT) shot off the goal-line and Joyce followed seconds later with a sensational diving stop on Vinnicombe's rebound.
The Blazers pressured over the final 10 minutes of the match, but could not net the equalizer.
Kapinos, Joyce and Moylan were each named to the NAC All-Tournament team, while Joyce finished with 11 stops in the loss.