FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


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 remaining 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.

Sunday, November 1

Quarterfinals - at Higher Seed
Match 1: #8 Saint Anselm 1, #8 So. New Hampshire 0
Match 2: #2 Le Moyne 1, #6 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: #8 Saint Anselm at #4 So. Connecticut
Match 6: #3 Franklin Pierce at #2 Le Moyne

Saturday, November 7

Championship
Match 7: Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner