For Immediate Release
November 4, 2011
South Easton, Mass. – Semifinal action begins this afternoon in the Northeast-10 Conference men's and women's soccer championships.
Men's Soccer Championship - Semifinals
#4 Le Moyne at #1 Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce hosts Le Moyne at 4:00 p.m. at Sodexo Field in Rindge, N.H. coming off of a 4-0 victory over Stonehill College in Tuesday's quarterfinals. Le Moyne enters the contest following its 3-2 win over Merrimack in the quarters, as sophomore Zachary McNabb netted the game-winner in the 83rd minute, although the Dolphins will have a tough test against this year's Northeast-10 regular season champs. The Ravens, which had 10 players named to All-Conference teams, are also the defending conference champions.
The 2011 Northeast-10 Men's Soccer All-Conference teams were announced yesterday as well, as Franklin Pierce boasted the Player of the Year in Diego Tabares, Goaltender of the Year in Vinny Papageorgiou and Defensive Player of the Year in Tom Reilly. All three were named to the First Team, as was teammate Victor Goncalves. For Le Moyne, sophomore forward Mike Spadine was a first-teamer while Jesse Carr and goalkeeper Matthew Silva were both named to Second Team.
#3 UMass Lowell at #2 So. New Hampshire
So. New Hampshire hosts UMass Lowell at Larkin Field in Manchester, N.H. (7:00 p.m.) following its 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Bentley on Tuesday. Bentley owned a 1-0 advantage at the break, but Yannick Kabala's unassisted tally two minutes into the second half evened the score before the conference's leading scorer, Chris Tsonis, connected on the game-winner at 68:08 from Ruben Resendes. Tsonis and Resendes were both named to the First Team, as were backline mates Jonathan Brockway and Jayme Kapinos. The Penmen had 11 players total named to all-conference squads, which was more than any other Northeast-10 team.
Meanwhile, the River Hawks defeated So. Connecticut 1-0 on Tuesday, as a Daniel Galvin tally 11 minutes into the second half stood up for the game's only score. Galvin and three others were named to the Second Team yesterday, and four other UMass Lowell players garnered individual honors as well. Homero Morais was also named Rookie of the Year and head coach Christian Figueroa was named Coach of the Year.
Women's Soccer Championship - Semfinals
#5 Stonehill at #1 Saint Rose
Top-seeded Saint Rose defeated Adelphi 4-0 in its opening round contest on Tuesday and will take on Stonehill today at 4:00 p.m. following the Skyhawks' 3-2 win at So. Connecticut earlier this week. Sarah Hickey, Sara Nagle and Catherine Kelly all netted goals for Stonehill, which held off the Owls' late push after So. Connecticut scored at the 72:29 mark to make it a one-goal contest. Nagle was named to the First Team yesterday.
However, Stonehill is faced with the tough task of dealing with the nation's top scoring offense in the Golden Knights, who have averaged 3.72 goals per game in 2011. Saint Rose's Christina Cuffari was named Player of the Year yesterday by the conference's head coaches, while Cuffari, Sydney Bond and Carmelina Puopolo all represented the Golden Knights on First Team. They also had three more named to Second Team, including Brittany Barry, who was named to the All-Rookie Team as well.
#6 So. New Hampshire at #2 Merrimack
So. New Hampshire is coming off a 2-1 upset victory over UMass Lowell on Tuesday, as Ariel Teixeira buried the game-winner late in the first half after assisting on the Penmen's first goal. Teixeira, the conference's assist leader with 12, was named to the First Team yesterday.
Merrimack meanwhile shut out Pace 2-0 earlier this week while holding the Setters to just a pair of shots on goal. Jenna Zechner and Sarah Wooley each had goals in the winning effort for the Warriors with Jamie Alnwick assisting on both tallies. They will look to hold off a Penmen team that has scored 22 goals in their last eight games (2.75/game). Merrimack's Jessica Peacock was named Defensive Player of the Year and made First Team, as did teammate Danielle Dion.
The Northeast-10 is an association of 16 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 5,500 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in Conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
-NE-10-
