Men's Soccer Preview: Daniel Webster

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College men's soccer team will look to cap off an unbeaten New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) schedule when they wrap their 2014 regular season with a trip to Daniel Webster Saturday afternoon for a Noon kickoff. 

The Blazers will enter the matchup with an 8-6-3 overall mark, and a 5-0-1 mark in the NECC. Elms is 5-1-1 in their last seven contests, including a record-setting 14-0 win over Wheelock and a 1-1 double-overtime tie with Lesley. The Blazers are producing 2.2 goals per game on 19.12 shots, while holding opponents to 1.17 goals on 13.52 shots.

Junior defender Connor O'Grady (Somers, Conn.) serves as the NECC's leading point scorer with 19 points on six goals and a NECC-high seven assists. Junior midfielder Lorenzo Rolocut (Somers, Conn.) and freshman forward Bobby Zaino (Avon, Conn.) had added 15 points apiece with Zaino chipping in seven goals, and Rolocut producing five goals and five assists. Senior midfielder Thomas Rivers (Fayetteville, N.C.) and freshman midfielder CJ Dabkowski (Springfield, Mass.) have added eight points each, while senior forward Joseph Coleman (Easthampton, Mass.), junior midfielder Safa Saady (Chicopee, Mass.), and junior midfielder Patrick Goonan (Chicopee, Mass.) have seven points apiece. The trio of juniors Ryan Harris (Brandon, Mo.), Christian Kostka (Oxford, Conn.) and Nick Pennant (St. Andrew, Jamaica) has rotated between the pipes for Elms, posting a combined 1.19 goals against average and a .808 save percentage in 16 contests. 

Daniel Webster has posted a record of 12-5-1 on the season, and a 4-2 mark in NECC play. The Eagles had won eight straight matches, including wins over Lesley (4-2) and Regis (2-0), after dropping their last match at Newbury, 1-0. Daniel Webster is generating 2.28 goals on 21.8 shots per game, while opponents are managing 1.28 goals on 12.1 shots against the Eagles.

Leading the way for Daniel Webster is freshman forward Aaron Esparza (Dover, N.H.) with a team-high 18 points on an NECC-leading eight goals. Freshman midfielder Nathan Misidi (Atlanta, Ga.) has tallied seven goals, while sophomore forward Michael Ottman (Kennebunkport, Maine) and sophomore midfielder Marcos Vieira Filho (Hudson, N.H.) had added five goals each. Senior midfielder Joey Morgan (Windham, N.H.) is the Eagles leading distributor with a team-high seven assists. Junior goalkeeper Sean Hamilton has been the primary shot-stopper for Daniel Webster, recording a 1.25 goals against average and a .806 save percentage with 75 saves and four shutouts.

In the 11 career meeting between Elms and Daniel Webster, the Eagles maintain a slight edge over the Blazers, 6-5, in their history. The Eagles won three straight matches from 2008-2010, but the Blazers have rallied to capture the last two contests against the Mariners, including a 1-0 victory in 2013.

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