North Atlantic Conference - North Atlantic Conference

November 5, 2005

Mount Ida Claims NAC Men's Soccer Title in Shootout

Fifth seed Mount Ida College upset second seed and host Lasell College in a dramatic North Atlantic Conference Men's Soccer Championship. Much of the game was played in the midfield throughout the first half, each side battling for possession. Lasell dominated much of the second half with several quality chances and top notch defending in particular by senior Mike Dewire (Waltham, MA), but neither side was able to score at the end of regulation and two overtime periods.

The winner was now to be decided by penalty kicks, as each team chose five players to take alternate shots. The score was tied 3-3 and Mount Ida had the last penalty kick. Ida senior defender Dan Smith (Westminster, VT) netted the winning goal as goalkeeper Nathan Walzer (Woodbury, CT) got a touch on the ball but was unable to keep the ball out of the net. Walzer finished the game with three saves, Mount Ida goalkeeper Brian Leighton (Turner, ME) finished with nine saves and the win.

Mount Ida wraps up the NAC tournament with at 8-4-5 overall record and will head to the Division III NCAA Tournament. Lasell College finishes the season with a 11-6-2 record and awaits a possible ECAC tournament bid to be announced early next week.

North Atlantic Conference Championship All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP: Dan Smith, Mount Ida (Sr. Defender - Westminster, VT)
Arly Noel, Mount Ida (Sr. Midfielder - Framingham, MA)
Joe Kassoy, Mount Ida (So. Midfielder - Glastonbury, CT
Brad Johnson, Mount Ida (So. Midfielder - Grafton, MA)
Svetlin Ignatov, Mount Ida (Fr. Forward - Taunton, MA)
Mike Navedo, Lasell (Sr. Defender - Norton, MA)
Zach Gagne, Lasell (Fr. Midfielder - Somerset, MA)
Mike DeWire, Lasell (Sr. Defender - Waltham, MA)
Nate Williams, Castleton State (Sr. Forward - East Schodack, NY)
Justin Fleming, Castleton State (Jr. Defender - Derby, VT)
Brian Lemont, Maine-Farmington (Fy. GK - Brunswick, ME)
Nate Ghelli, Maine-Farmington (Jr. Defender - Lancaster, NH)

NAC Men's Soccer Tournament - Bracket

Quarterfinals - Sunday, October 30 at higher seeds
(8) Me.-Farmington	0	at	(1) Johnson State	0 - 2OT
Me.-Farmington advances on penalty kicks 6-5
(7) Elms	1	at	(2) Lasell	3
(6) Maine Maritime	0	at	(3) Castleton State	1
(5) Mount Ida	3	at	(4) Husson	1

Semifinals - Wednesday, November 2 at higher seeds
(8) Me.-Farmington	1	at	(5) Mount Ida	2
(3) Castleton State	1	at	(2) Lasell	2

Championship - Saturday, November 5 at Lasell
(5) Mount Ida	0	at	(2) Lasell	0 - 2OT
Mount Ida earns title on penalty kicks 4-3

November 2, 2005

Lasell Men?s Soccer Advances to NAC Finals with 2-1 Defeat of Castleton State

Newton, MA ? For the second straight year the Lasell College men?s soccer team will advance to the North Atlantic Conference finals. The Lasers defeated the Castleton State College Spartans 2-1 to earn the right to play for the NAC title for the second year in a row. Lasell junior midfielder Adam Palencia scored the first goal in the 18th minute on an crossball from freshman Zach Gagne. Lasell would score again in the 33rd minute as freshman forward Jeff Danso scored on a feed from sophomore fullback Steve Salerno. Defensively, senior fullback Mike Dewire played very well as did sophomore goalkeeper Nathan Walzer who had four saves in the win.

In the second half, Castleton State?s T.J. Mazza netted a goal in the 65th minute off a free kick which resulted in a scramble in front of the net. Castleton senior goalkeeper Matt Vernon played 22 minutes, recording one save and allowing one goal and left the game with an injury. Freshman goalkeeper Ben Colona finished the game allowing one goal and stopping three shots. The NAC finals will be hosted by Lasell College on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. against cross town rival Mount Ida College.

#5 Mount Ida Outlasts #8 Maine-Farmington, 2-1; advance to NAC Championship

NEWTON, Mass. ? The fifth seeded Mount Ida men?s soccer team (8-4-4, 4-2-3 NAC) fought back for a 2-1 victory over eighth seeded Maine Farmington in a North Atlantic Conference Tournament Semifinal match this afternoon at the Mount Ida Athletic Stadium. With the win, the Mustangs advanced to Saturday?s Conference Championship at second seeded Lasell College. Lasell knocked off third seeded Castleton State College 2-1 in today?s other semifinal pairing. The Lasers defeated Mount Ida 4-1 in the teams? previous meeting on September 28.

Following a Mount Ida handball in the goal box, senior Joe Conway netted a penalty kick to give Maine Farmington a 1-0 advantage just 8:11 into the contest. The Mustangs received a penalty kick of their own in the 31st minute, when freshman Zain Hassan drew a foul in box. Classmate Svetlin Ignatov tallied off the penalty kick to knot the match up at one goal apiece.

Mount Ida took its first lead of the contest, when junior Josh Belongie ripped a rebound past Beavers freshman goalkeeper Brian Lemont in the 69th minute. His goal proved to be the match-winner, as the Mustangs defense stifled Maine Farmington over the final 21:15. Freshman goalkeeper Brian Leighton stopped six shots for Mount Ida, while Lemont made seven saves in a losing effort for the Beavers.

Johnson, VT (Oct. 30, 2005) ? The University of Maine-Farmington advanced to the semifinals of the North Atlantic Conference men's soccer playoffs by beating Johnson State College 6-5 in penalty kicks.

The match went scoreless through regulation and through two overtime sessions. After five kicks apiece, the tally was 4-4, then on to 5-5. With the score at 6-5 UMF, goalkeeper Brian Lemont dove to his right and deflected away a Johnson State kick and sealed the victory for the Beavers. UMF will move on to play Mount Ida in the semifinal round on Wednesday, November 2.

Castleton, VT - Castleton State College, the third seed in the North Atlantic Conference tournament, received all the offense they would need in the first half against number 6 seed Maine Maritime Academy on Sunday.

Nathan Williams converted a T.J. Mazza serve in the 17th minute of play to put the Spartans ahead for good. Castleton out-shot their counterparts by a margin of 22-12, but some excellent work in net by junior keeper, Josh Heath, kept the Mariners within striking distance. Equal to the task was Castleton?s keeper, Matt Vernon, who made some outstanding saves including two late in the second-half. Heath finished the game with 8 saves, while Vernon stopped 6 shots for the shut-out win.

Maine Maritime finishes their season with a 8-6-2 (3-4-2 NAC) record. With the win Castleton advances to the Semi-Finals with a record of 9-6-2 (7-2-1 NAC). The Spartans will face Lasell College on Wednesday, November 2.

MOUNT IDA Upsets Husson to ADVANCE TO SEMIFINALS

Bangor, ME ? Mount Ida College advanced to the semifinals of the NAC Tournament with solid play, timely offense, and good goalie play. The Mustangs defeated Husson 3-1 at John Boucher Field on a perfect day for soccer.

Senior Adam Maciaszczyk put Mount Ida up 1-0 15:32 into the game scoring off a defensive mistake and putting it past first year goalie Chris Jackson. Senior Arly Noel would set up rookie Svetlin Ignatov for a goal just 12 minutes later putting the Mustangs up 2-0.

Husson would close the gap to 2-1 with just under 4 minutes to play in the first half when sophomore Pat St. Hilaire connected with rookie Jeff Truchon inside the box to cut the lead in half. The first half struggled for a flow with 6 yellow cards issued, 3 for each team.

The second half settled into a flow until Maciaszczyk would pick up his second yellow card and be ejected from the game giving the Eagles a man advantage. Husson could not capitalize on the man advantage and the Mustangs would get an insurance goal just 6:38 later as Noel would score off a direct kick from 25 yards out to push the lead to 3-1.

Husson would mount constant pressure on first year keeper Brain Leighton as he faced 24 shots making 10 saves. Eagles keeper Jackson recorded 6 saves against 11 shots.

Mount Ida now moves on to the semifinal round of the NAC tournament to face Maine-Farmington, upset winners over top seeded Johnson State.

After a five win conference improvement over last season, Johnson State College (8-6-3 overall, 6-1-2 NAC) earned the top seed in the upcoming North Atlantic Conference Men's Soccer Championship. The Badgers, who finished the 2004 season with an overall mark of 3-14-3, will host eight seeded Maine-Farmington (4-7-3 overall, 2-5-1 NAC) when quarterfinal action begins this Sunday, October 30. Johnson State defeated UMF 2-0 during regular season play in Farmington, Maine.

Seventh seed Elms (3-10-3 overall, 2-4-3 NAC) will travel to second seed Lasell (9-6-1 overall, 6-2-0 NAC). The Blazers, who were 3-1-3 over their final seven contests, defeated Lasell 2-1 in Chicopee, Mass. earlier this season.

Two-time defending tournament champion Castleton State earned the tournament's third seed with a 6-2-1 conference record. The Spartans (8-6-1 overall) will host sixth seed Maine Maritime (8-5-2 overall, 3-3-2 NAC). The Mariners fell to Castleton State 2-0 in late September.

Fourth seed Husson (10-5-2 overall, 5-2-2 NAC) will host fifth seed Mount Ida (6-4-4 overall, 4-2-3 NAC) in quarterfinal action. The two teams tied 2-2 during their regular season meeting.

The top eight teams qualify for the NAC Championship. Predetermined tiebreaking procedures were used to seed teams with identical conference winning percentages. Quarterfinal games will be played on Sunday, October 30 at 1:00 p.m. at the higher seed. Quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals held at the higher seed on Wednesday, November 2 at 2:00 p.m. Semifinal winners will meet Saturday, November 5 at the highest remaining seed. Game times are subject to change. The NAC Champion receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Championship.