Pachniuk earns ECAC and NEWMAC weekly honors

November 6, 2006

NORTON, MA- Wheaton College men's soccer standout Matt Pachniuk (Newtown, CT/Newtown) earned weekly honors from both the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) for the week ending on Sunday, November 5.

Pachniuk shared ECAC Co-Defensive-Player-of-the-Week accolades with Williams College senior Jeff Castiglione while being named NEWMAC Player of the Week for the second time in his career. Pachniuk previously drew the honor on September 19, 2004.

Pachniuk, a senior goalkeeper, extended his shutout streak to 357:25 by posting a pair of shutouts during the NEWMAC Tournament over the weekend, sending the Blue and White to its sixth tournament title and seventh NCAA Tournament berth. He finished his career with a 6-1-1 mark in NEWMAC Tournament play and yielded just five goals in 745:13 of action (0.60 goals against average) while posting four shutouts.

The tri-captain turned aside four shots in a scoreless double-overtime semifinal against United States Coast Guard Academy on Saturday before stopping three penalty kicks during a 5-4 shootout win that pushed the Lyons into the championship game. Pachniuk made four more saves during a 1-0 victory against Babson College in Sunday's title contest.

Pachniuk, the program's career leader with 54 wins and 29 shutouts, extended his career-high save total to 82 over the weekend, and he sits second in the league with 4.56 stops per game. He is also third in each save percentage (.820) and winning percentage (.676), having gone 10-4-3 with six shutouts while posting a 1.01 goals against average. With 288 career saves, he needs seven to tie Drew Goodman '94 for second in program history.

Wheaton, which is ranked fifth in New England by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), carries a 12-4-4 record into the NCAA Tournament, which begins this weekend. The Lyons travel to Amherst College and are scheduled to face Western New England College in the first round on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. A victory would send them into Sunday's second round against either Amherst or Westfield State College at 1:00 p.m.

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