First Round - Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Babson 4, Suffolk 1 
Johnson & Wales 1, New England College 2
Norwich  2, US Coast Guard Academy 0
Plymouth State 0, Brandeis 1

Semifinals - Saturday, November 11, 2006 (highest remaining seeds)                               
Babson 1, Brandeis, 2
New England College 2, Norwich 0

Championship
Brandeis 5, New England College 3

BRANDEIS MEN'S SOCCER DEFEATS NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE, 5-3, TO CLAIM ECAC CROWN
Snyder named tournament MVP
 
WALTHAM, Mass. - Fourth-seeded Brandeis University scored five first-half goals today to defeat seventh-seeded New England College and claim the 2006 ECAC Division III New England Men's Soccer championship.

The contest looked like it would be a shootout right from the outset, thanks to the sloppy weather. New England College (12-7-2) got on the board quickly, as junior back Nel Lima (Melrose, Mass.) timed his leap perfectly to head home a free kick by senior forward John Bavota (Tewksbury, Mass.) at the 3:41 mark.

Brandeis (13-7-3) answered just over two minutes later at the 5:54 mark when senior Mike Snyder (Ashby, Mass.) scored his 11th goal of the season. An initial cross was intercepted by a Pilgrim defender, but Snyder thwarted the clearing attempt and sent it home to know the game.

Judge senior back Scott Zackaroff (Bath, Ohio) put the Judges head for good just over six minutes later. Sophomore forward Ben Premo (Florence, Mass.) sent the ball to Zackaroff about 20 yards out. He ripped the ball on net and it slipped through the hands of NEC netminder Nick Kropelin (Jeffersonville, Vt.), putting Brandeis ahead 2-1. Snyder added his second goal of the game and third of the tournament at the 23:15 mark when he flicked home a long ball off the foot of junior back Joe Levitan (Baltimore, Md.).

New England College wasn't done yet, however. The Pilgrims cut the lead to 3-2 six minutes later when they drew a penalty kick. Bavota's initial kick was stopped by Brandeis rookie goalie Taylor Bracken (No. Andover, Mass.), but Bavota pounced on the rebound for his 10th goal of the season.

The Judges got a penalty kick of their own at the 37:45 mark when NEC back-up goalkeeper Chris Corwin (Corning, N.Y.) picked up a yellow card breaking up a Brandeis breakaway. Junior back Brett Fitzgerald (Hubbardston, Mass.) converted his third PK of the season to put the margin back to 4-2. Rookie midfielder Alex Zenerovitz (Acton, Mass.) pushed the lead to 5-2 less than 30 seconds later, when he spun and shot a feed from senior forward Jason Ring (Stoneham, Mass.) just inside the near post. It was the first collegiate goal for Zenerovitz.

The Brandeis defense settled into their game in the second half. It looked like the 5-2 score would hold up, but Brandeis was sent a man down with 22 minutes remaining, allowing the Pilgrims to increase their pressure. It paid off when junior midfielder James Palumbo (Kingston, N.H.) sent a shot from 20 yards out that deflected off a Brandeis defender and past Bracken at the 73:08 mark. NEC tried to cut further into the lead, but Bracken made two diving saves in the final 10 minutes to secure the win.
       Snyder, who led the Judges with three goals, including the game-winner in the semifinal victory over Babson, was named tournament MVP. This was Brandeis men's soccer second ECAC title, to go with one in 1994. It was also the second ECAC crown of the fall for Brandeis, as the Judges captured volleyball honors on Saturday.

NEC Moves to Finals

Northfield, VT - Junior forward Jordan Colonese scored both goals as the Pilgrims advanced to the championship game of the ECAC Division III New England Men's Soccer Tournament with a 2-0 win over the Cadets at Howard Field.

The game remained scoreless until the 74th minute when Colonese connected on a corner kick for a 1-0 lead. Colonese struck again in the 83rd minute off the assist of Eric Sheedy for the 2-0 final.

On the day, the Pilgrims outshot the Cadets, 12-9. NEC goalie Nick Kropelin made six saves, while Norwich goaltender Jeff Warner closed out his collegiate career with five stops.

#7 seed New England will meet #4 seed Brandeis in Sunday's championship game. Brandeis upset top-seed Babson, 2-1, in Wellesley, MA, to get to the title bout.

ECAC NEW ENGLAND MEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT - SEMIFINALS
#4 Brandeis Upsets Top-Seeded Babson, 2-1, To Advance

BABSON PARK, Mass. -- Fourth-seeded Brandeis University scored two first half goals and then held on for a 2-1 victory over top-seeded Babson College in the semifinals of the 2006 ECAC New England Men's Soccer Tournament at Hartwell-Rogers Field on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Judges (12-7-3) move on to host the winner of #6 Norwich vs. #7 New England College in tomorrow's championship game, while Babson (13-7-3) sees its season come to a close.

Brandeis dominated the first half of play, outshooting the host Beavers, 12-1. The Judges grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute, as senior Mike Sndyer (Ashby, Mass.) ripped a shot from the left side of the box that was denied by Babson junior goalie Chris Necklas (Guilford, Conn.). However, the rebound of Necklas' diving save trickled out to the right side, where sophomore Ben Premo (Florence, Mass.) blasted a shot into an open net for the game's first score.

The Judges added another goal at 20:48, when Snyder took a perfect lead pass from senior Yuval Ezer (Netanya, Israel) down the left side, crossed the field, and ripped a breakaway shot past Necklas and into the lower left corner. The 2-0 lead would stand until the final 10 minutes of the second half, when Brandeis was charged with an owl goal after a Babson cross was deflected into the net by a defender. The Beavers followed with more offensive pressure in the closing minutes, but first-year goalie Tyler Bracken (North Andover, Mass.) made a clean catch of junior Tom Kowalski's (Burlington, Conn.) cross with 30 seconds remaining to help Brandeis clinch the 2-1 victory.

NEC Men's Soccer Upsets #2 JWU in ECAC Tournament

The seventh-seeded New England College men's soccer team (10-6-3, 6-3-2 CCC) won a 2-1 thriller over second-seeded Johnson & Wales University (15-6-0, 8-0-0 GNAC) in the ECAC Div. III Men's New England Soccer Championships on a rainy afternoon.  The game was held at Southern New Hampshire University.    

Both teams could not find the net in the first half, until NEC's John Bavota (Sr., Tewksbury, MA) scored at 43:54 off a rebound.  The Wildcats could not catch up as the teams headed into the break. 

JWU tied it up in the second half as Alin Oroszi (Jr., Ypsilanti, MI) slipped one by NEC goalie Nick Kropelin (Sr., Jeffersonville, VT) at 56:50 to make it one apiece.  NEC fought back as Jordan Colonese (Jr., Guilford, CT) got the game-winner at 68:22 to make the score 2-1.  The Wildcats could not come up with the goal as the clock ticked down, and NEC walked away with the upset victory. 

NEC's Kropelin had nine saves in the win, while JWU goalie Breton Blanchard (Saline, MI) had three saves in the Wildcat's loss. 

Norwich Upsets No. 3 Coast Guard Academy

NEW LONDON, CONN.--Sophomores Rob Harlow and Drew Dilley each scored goals leading sixth-seeded Norwich to a 2-0 win over third-seeded Coast Guard in the first round of the ECAC Division III New England Men's Soccer Championship.

Harlow scored his team leading 14th goal just 11:20 into the game as Norwich took the 1-0 lead into halftime.
Dilley gave the Cadets (13-6-1) an insurance goal in the 67th minute with freshman Jake Yaris assisting.
Coast Guard which ends its season with a 10-5-4 record outshot Norwich 14-9.
Senior Jeff Warner made nine saves for his fourth shutout of the season.
Freshman Tim Olah made five saves for Coast Guard.
Norwich will host seventh-seeded New England College, a 2-1 winner over Johnson & Wales, in the semfinals on Saturday.

Brandeis Advances in New England Championships

WALTHAM, Mass. -- An 11th minute goal by sophomore forward Ben Premo (Florence, Mass.) stood up as the fourth-seeded Brandeis University men's soccer team upended No. 5 seed Plymouth State University, 1-0, in the quarterfinals of the ECAC Division III New England tournament.

Brandeis (11-7-3) got the game's only goal at the 10:29 mark when senior back Scott Zackaroff (Bath, Ohio) sent a tremendous ball from deep in his zone over the Plymouth State defense. Premo split two defenders and went in on net to tally his 15th goal of the season and the 25th of his career.

After managing just three shots in the first half, Plymouth State (10-7-2) turned up the pressure in the second. The Panthers got off seven shots in the second stanza, though just one was on net. PSU got its best chance in the 78th minute, when junior Takeru Tanikawa (Shizuoka, Japan) hit the crossbar and senior Steve Martus (Wilton, N.H.) sent the rebound wide. Plymouth also had a ball appear to go in following a corner kick, but the linesman ruled that the ball curved out of bounds before being put home.

Brandeis rookie Taylor Bracken (No. Andover, Mass.) made two saves to record his ninth shutout of the season, while PSU sophomore Tyler Shute (Deerfield, N.H.) kept his team in the contest with eight saves, including six in the second half.

With the win, Brandeis advances in the postseason for the first time since 1998. The Judges meet top-seeded Babson College in the semifinals Saturday, tentatively at 1 p.m., in Wellesley. The Judges and Beavers played to a 1-1 tie earlier this season.