Men's Soccer Falls To Daniel Webster In NECC Semifinals

Nashua, N.H. - The fifth-seeded Elms College men's soccer team fell to host and top-seeded Daniel Webster, 5-0, in a semifinal match of the 2016 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Men's Soccer Championship at Eagle Field Friday afternoon.

Elms ended its season 5-14-1 overall. Donald Whittle (Somers, Conn.) and Babba Jaden (Clarkson, Ga.) played well with Whittle racking up eight shots (4 on goal) while Jaden posted four shots (two goal).

The Eagles (12-5-3), now winners of five straight and 8-1-1 over their last ten, advance to their third straight NECC championship game appearance this Sunday, where they face either second-seeded Regis or sixth-seeded Newbury. The game at Eagle Field is set tentatively for 1:00 p.m. Daniel Webster will be seeking its fifth title overall since 2009 in this, their final season as a program. DWC has won championships in 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2015.

The game was much more evenly played than the final score, as Elms pushed and controlled the tempo numerous times, especially over the first half of the opening frame as well as during a handful of stints in the second half. The teams finished tied in overall shots (19-19) with DWC having a tiny advantage on goal (10-9). The teams were virtually tied in fouls (7-6 Elms) while DWC doubled up the Blazers on corners (8-4).

Cooper Hall (Heber City, Utah) finished with nine stops for his NECC-best seventh shutout of the season while Tyler Graves made five saves for Elms.

Elms posted a 14-8 total shots advantage in the first half and tested Hall six times but had nothing to show for it and instead DWC pick up two key strikes on six shots over that first 45:00.

Herrera, in fact potted the first Eagle shot on goal 11:41 in, redirecting a Matheus de Farias (Lowell, Mass.) cross from the right corner into the low right corner past Graves for the early advantage.

Elms pressed again getting three shots on Hall but DWC again broke through in the 27th as Ian Hutchinson (Litchfield, N.H.) took an Alex Carvajal (Medellin, Colombia) pass down the right side then cut hard to the left sending a shot high to the far left corner. The ball instead nicked off a Blazer defender past Graves for a 2-0 game.

Latsha would net his first of the season in the 68th with a nasty 20-yard laser from just above the penalty box semicircle that started off a Jimmy Brophy feed for a 3-0 advantage and Herrera iced it with his second knocking in a defensive misplay from 10 yards in front in the 73rd for his team-leading eighth of the year.

Latsha closed it out with 53 seconds left off a Marcos Vieira Filho (Recife, Pernambuco, BRZ) pass for the 5-0 final.

Source: (Daniel Webster College Athletics)