2009 NORTHEAST-10 MEN'S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP



Sunday, November 1

Quarterfinals - at Higher Seed
Match 1: #8 Saint Anselm 1, #8 So. New Hampshire 0
Match 2: #2 Le Moyne 1, #7 Bentley 0
Match 3: #3 Franklin Pierce 0, #6 Assumption 0 (Franklin Pierce Advances 4-2 PK's)
Match 4: #4 So. Connecticut 2, #5 Merrimack 1

Wednesday, November 4

Semifinals - at Higher Seed
Match 5: #4 So. Connecticut 1, #8 Saint Anselm 0
Match 6: #2 Le Moyne 2, #3 Franklin Pierce 1 (2OT)

Saturday, November 7

Championship
Match 7: #2 Le Moyne 2, #4 So. Connecticut 1



Southern Connecticut and Le Moyne to Meet in Northeast-10 Men's Soccer Championship Final



South Easton, Mass. - Le Moyne College and Southern Connecticut State University will face each other in the Northeast-10 men's soccer championship final after semifinal victories Wednesday afternoon.

Le Moyne, the number two seed in the championship, advanced to its second-straight Northeast-10 Championship final after defeating number three Franklin Pierce University, 2-1, in double-overtime. Junior Angelo Reina (Frankfurt, N.Y.) scored the game-winning goal late in the second-overtime period for the Dolphins. In the other semifinal match, Southern Connecticut's Cedric Panzu (Mons-En-Baroeul, France) scored the game's only goal as the Owls went on to a 1-0 victory over eighth seeded Saint Anselm College. With the win Southern Connecticut will be advancing to its fifth championship final in the past nine years.

Le Moyne and Southern Connecticut will face each other for the first time in the Northeast-10 Championship Final on Saturday, Nov. 7 in Syracuse, N.Y. for a 1 p.m. match. Live action can be seen on Northeast10.tv for all fans and free of charge.

In the first semifinal game of the afternoon, Franklin Pierce broke a scoreless tie late in the first half when sophomore Paul Latif (Newcastle, England) connected on a penalty kick for his third goal of the season. The score remained in favor of the Ravens through halftime despite Le Moyne holding a 5-2 advantage on shots.

With Franklin Pierce still leading, 1-0, late in the second half, Reina put Le Moyne on the board in the 79th minute after receiving a cross pass from 12 yards out to tie the game at 1-1.

The game remained tied throughout the remainder of regulation as the two teams entered overtime. In the first overtime period Le Moyne was held to just two shots, while Franklin Pierce was only able to get one shot off as the game remained deadlocked.

In the second overtime period, Reina scored his 16th goal of the season from 12 yards out off a pass from sophomore Harrison Grubbs (Wildwood, Mo.) advancing Le Moyne to the Northeast-10 Championship Final.

Le Moyne's Steve White (Cortland, N.Y.) pushed away two shots in net, while Franklin Pierce's Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.) made five saves.

With the win Le Moyne improves to 16-2-2, while Franklin Pierce is now 12-4-3 and will await word on a possible NCAA bid which will be announced on Monday, Nov. 9.

In the second semifinal match of the afternoon, Southern Connecticut's Panzu scored his second game winning goal of the Northeast-10 Championship in the 20th minute as sophomore Paul Templeton (Saltcoats, Scotland) assisted on the play. Panzu scored the team's eventual game winner in the 2-1 quarterfinal win over Merrimack this past Sunday.

Southern Connecticut's goalkeeper Chris Rybacki (Putnam, Conn.) recorded nine saves in net, while Saint Anselm's freshman goalkeeper Eric Moriarty (Center Harbor, N.H.) made one save.

The victory improves Southern Connecticut to 14-4-1, while Saint Anselm finishes the year 7-9-3.


 

Saint Anselm Upsets Top Seed Southern New Hampshire; Remaining Top Seeds Advance



South Easton, Mass. - The number eight seed, Saint Anselm College, upset top seeded Southern New Hampshire, 1-0, in the quarter final round of the Northeast-10 men's soccer championship Sunday afternoon. The remaing top seeds all advanced as the semifinal round is set to begin on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Saint Anselm will travel to fourth seeded Southern Connecticut, while the number three seed, Franklin Pierce, will be at second seeded Le Moyne.


#8 Saint Anselm 1, #1 Southern New Hampshire 0


Saint Anselm College sophomore Justin Colella (Wilmington, Mass.) scored the game's only goal as eighth seeded Saint Anselm upset top seed Southern New Hampshire, 1-0. Saint Anselm becomes the first number eight seed to defeat the number one seed in the current championship format which was established in 2000.

Colella scored in the 36th minute off a pass from senior Paul Kilday (Marshfield, Mass.) to give the Hawks the 1-0 advantage. Despite outshooting Saint Anselm, 16-5, Southern New Hampshire was unable to get anything past the Hawks freshman goalkeeper Eric Moriarty (Center Harbor, N.H.) who made five saves in net.

Saint Anselm improves to 6-7-3 with the win, while Southern New Hampshire is now 13-4-2.




#2 Le Moyne 1, #7 Bentley 0


After nearly 77 minutes of scoreless soccer the scoreboard finally switched over as Le Moyne's Jesse Carr (Skaneateles, N.Y.) scored the games eventual game-winner and only goal of the match off a free kick from 25 yards out after the ball hit off a Bentley defender.

Le Moyne's goalkeeper Steve White (Cortland, N.Y.) recorded his seventh shutout of the season as he recorded two saves in net. Bentley's Michael Nikiforov (Framingham, Mass.) turned away four shots in net for the Falcons.

With the win Le Moyne improves to 15-2-2, while Bentley finishes the year with a 6-10-2 record.

 



#3 Franklin Pierce 0, #6 Assumption 0
(Franklin Pierce Advances 4-2 PK's)


Franklin Pierce University goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.) turned away two shots as the Ravens went on to defeat Assumption 4-2 in the shootout period.

After playing a full 90 minutes of regulation and then another 20 minutes of overtime, that was still not enough to determine a winner as Franklin Pierce and Assumption battled to a scoreless draw. The Ravens outshot the Greyhounds 18-6 but were unable to get anything past Assumption goalkeeper Brandan Sullivan (Halesite, N.Y.) who made five saves in net. Papageorgiou made three saves for the Ravens.

After the double-overtime draw, Franklin Pierce is now 12-3-3, while Assumption is now 9-6-3.




#4 Southern Connecticut 2, #5 Merrimack 1


Fourth seeded Southern Connecticut scored the games first two goals as they went on to defeat fifth seeded Merrimack College, 2-1. In the games 20th minute Southern Connecticut's Harry Appiah (Pawtucket, R.I.) scored an unassisted goal to give the Owls a 1-0 advantage.

Southern Connecticut increased its lead in the second half when sophomore Cedric Panzu (Mons-en-Baroeul, France) scored in the 64th minute off a pass from junior Victor Hernandez (Rye Book, N.Y.) for the 2-0 advantage.

Later in the half, Merrimack cut the lead in half as sophomore Victor Plaza (Jundiai, Brazil) scored an unassisted goal in the 82nd minute. Despite the late comeback the Owls were able to hold on to the lead for the 2-1 victory.

Southern Connecticut's Chris Rybacki (Putnam, Conn.) made two saves in net, while his counterpart Doug Carvalho (New Bedford, Mass) recorded five saves for the Warriors.

With the win Southern Connecticut improves to 13-4-1, while Merrimack is now 11-7-1.