Men's Soccer Advances to NAC Championship With 3-1 Win at Maine-Farmington
MEN'S SOCCER ADVANCES TO NAC
CHAMPIONSHIP
WITH 3-1 WIN AT MAINE-FARMINGTON
FARMINGTON, ME, Oct. 31, 2006 - Elms College freshman midfielder Ben Masse (Chicopee, MA) netted his team-leading sixth goal of the year and the seventh-seeded Blazers used a two-goal first half to post a 3-1 win over third-seeded University of Maine-Farmington in Tuesday's North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Tournament men's soccer semifinal at Prescott Field.
With the victory, Elms College (8-9-1) advances to its first conference championship game since winning its first and only NAC Tournament title in 2001.
The Blazers will play at top-seeded Lasell College (14-5) on Saturday, November 4. The winner of that game receives the conference's automatic qualifier into the upcoming NCAA Division III Championship.
"We deserve to be playing in the championship," Elms College head coach John Amaral said. "Our team has played very intelligently and understood the importance of playing within our system."
Lasell punched its ticket to the NAC Tournament title game with a 3-1 win over No. 4 Castleton in Tuesday's other semifinal.
The Blazers dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 double overtime game at Lasell in the previous meeting between the two teams back on October 11.
In that game, the Blazers led 1-0 on a goal by Masse in the 57th minute before the host Lasers tallied the equalizer in the 71st minute and the game-winner with just four seconds remaining in the second overtime.
In Tuesday's semifinal victory at Maine-Farmington, junior midfielder Nda Kaslong (Jos, Nigeria) struck for his fourth goal of the year off a direct kick in the 14th minute to give the Blazers a quick 1-0 lead.
The Beavers responded 13 minutes later when senior midfielder Nate Ghelli (Lancaster, NH) converted on a penalty kick for his third goal of the season.
Sophomore forward Patrick Kayego (Springfield, MA) then scored what proved to be the eventual game-winning goal in the 42nd minute when he blasted a shot past Maine-Farmington sophomore goalkeeper Brian Lemont (Brunswick, ME) to give the Blazers a 2-1 lead.
Masse added an insurance goal off a cross by senior midfielder Matt Kapinos (Ludlow, MA) in the 81st minute to seal the victory.
Elms College sophomore goalkeeper Phil Joyce (Ashland, NH) stopped five shots to earn his fifth win of the year, while Lemont finished with three stops in the loss for Maine-Farmington, which finished its season 7-9-3.