The NECC Semifinals
Nashua - An own goal just 8:44 into the contest proved to be the
difference by the slimmest of margins allowing top seed and host
Daniel Webster College to slip past fourth-seeded Southern Vermont
College in a tense New England Collegiate Conference men's soccer
semifinal meeting Friday afternoon at Eagle Field.
With the win - the first playoff victory (in their first ever home
playoff game) for the Eagles in program history - Daniel Webster
(11-5) will host second seeded Lesley (1-0 winners over Newbury
Friday night) at 1:00 p.m. in the championship tilt.
The game was an intense and physical battle from whistle to whistle
as the squads staged a continued back-and-forth battle for field
control, combining for 39 total fouls.
The Eagles - who continue to set a new program record for most
victories in a season - took their lead after a Mountaineer
defender moved to clear a loose ball in front but the attempt
deflected off the back of a fellow defender into the net.
Southern Vermont pressed to respond and almost tied it with 11
minutes to go in the first as Nick Haggerty (Wyantskill, N.Y.) sent
a low 8-yarder from in front that was knocked down by Eagle keeper
Joe Keene (Bristol, N.H.), who would finish with seven stops on the
day.
Mountaineer Noah Massucci (Craftsbury, Vt.) followed with a header
off a free kick with 3:30 remaining in the period that beat Keene
but just missed the open net to the far left.
SVC finished with a 9-5 edge in shots in the opening frame and
would end with a 12-8 advantage on the day.
The Eagles' best chance to ice it came with 12 minutes remaining as
Tim Amberman (Shrewsbury, Penn.) took a feed from Alex Jackson
(Kent, Ohio) from the right side and just missed the top crossbar
from 12 yards out.
The Mountaineers pulled keeper Aaron Eschler (Gloversville, N.Y.)
forward in the final three minutes and set up for a free kick with
under a minute remaining, but the attempt was knocked down and
cleared preserving the Eagle victory.
Eschler made four stops for Southern Vermont, which closed its
season 11-8-1 overall, it's first winning and best overall season
in 18 years.
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