Mountaineers Fall To Eagles In NECC Semi's
Article Courtesy: Ken Belbin DWC Athletics
Nashua, N.H. - 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 home playoff victory for the Eagles in program history - Daniel Webster (11-5) will host either second seeded Lesley University or third seeded Newbury College Sunday 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 sent a low 8-yarder from in front that was knocked down by Eagle keeper Joe Keene, who would finish with seven stops on the day.
Mountaineer Noah Massucci 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 took a feed from Alex Jackson from the right side and just missed the top crossbar from 12 yards out.
The Mountaineers pulled keeper Aaron Eschler 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.
