Wheaton men's soccer begins hunt for fifth NEWMAC Tournament title

November 3, 2005

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's soccer team's quest for its fifth New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament title begins this weekend when the Lyons host the semifinal and final rounds of the league tournament.

Top seed Wheaton faces number-five Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Saturday's 10:30 a.m. semifinal at Keefe Field. In the 1:30 p.m. semifinal, third-seeded Clark University squares off with seven seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The winners meet in Sunday's title game at 1:00 p.m., with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line.

The 11-4-2 Lyons received a first-round bye in the tournament, while the Engineers played to a 1-1 double-overtime tie with the United States Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday during its opening tournament contest before prevailing in penalty kicks, 5-4, and moving to 7-6-2 on the season. After knocking off WPI, 2-1 in the regular season, Wheaton holds a 14-1 series advantage against the Engineers. The Blue and White has also won all five postseason meetings, including a 2-1 overtime victory during the first round of last season's NEWMAC Tournament.

After posting a 5-0-1 conference record this season, its third undefeated league mark in the NEWMAC's eight-year history, Wheaton wrapped up its fifth regular season conference title last Saturday by virtue of a 3-0 win over MIT and Clark's loss to Babson College. Since beginning the season 3-3 overall, the Lyons have gone 8-1-2 and outscored opponents, 20-5 during the last 11 games. During NEWMAC Tournament play, Wheaton holds a 5-2 all-time record at home, as well as a 14-4-1 overall postseason mark at Keefe Field.

Junior goalkeeper Matt Pachniuk (Newtown, CT/Newtown) and senior back James Greenslit (Framingham, MA/Rivers School), the 2004 NEWMAC Player of the Year, have organized one of the strongest defensive efforts in the program's 17-year history. In 1,570 minutes, the Lyons have yielded only 11 goals, which would stand as a school record. The Blue and White's 0.63 goals against average would also set the program standard, and its .864 save percentage would be second. Wheaton has posted a league-high nine shutouts and is second in the NEWMAC in goals against average.

On the other half of the field, freshman Dan Lane (Dedham, MA/Worcester Academy) has been Wheaton's offensive catalyst all season. The first-year forward holds the program's freshman marks with 12 goals and 27 points, which also leads all conference freshmen and places him second among all NEWMAC players in each category. Lane has played a hand in 15 of the Lyons' 29 goals this season, netting five game-winning tallies while assisting on the Blue and White's winner during Wheaton and WPI's regular season meeting on September 24.

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