2007 NEWMAC MEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT - Lyons win third straight title and seventh overall with 4-0 triumph against Babson

November 4, 2007

NORTON, MA- The top-seeded Wheaton College men's soccer team notched its third consecutive New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament championship and seventh in the league's 10-year history thanks to a 4-0 triumph over second seed Babson College Sunday afternoon at Keefe Field. Winners in each of the seven NEWMAC Tournament title games in which they played, the Lyons return to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season and eighth time overall. Pairings will be announced tomorrow.

Today's match between Wheaton and Babson marked the third time the two teams have met in a conference tournament championship and seventh postseason meeting in the last eight years, with Wheaton winning five of them. The Lyons, who are ranked eighth in the region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), raised their record to 12-6-3, while the ninth-ranked Beavers fall to 12-6-2 and will await Monday's pairings announcement for a possible postseason berth.

Babson had a sequence of three shots on goal midway through the first half, but Wheaton freshman goalie Cole Davidson (Needham, MA/Salisbury School) came up with three huge saves to keep the visitors at bay. Freshman Eric Driscoll's (Lexington, MA/Lexington) tally in the 24th minute stood as the game-winner, as he collected a rebound off the Babson defense and drove his left-footed strike out of the reach of senior goalie Chris Necklas (Guilford, CT/Guilford).

Sophomore Adam Sussman (Swampscott, MA/Swampscott) scored his second goal in as many days to make the score 2-0, as senior Reed Hollett (Bedford, Nova Scotia/Halifax Grammar School) found a wide-open Sussman in the middle of the field. Sussman turned toward net and delivered a shot that took a big bounce over the diving Necklas four minutes before the half. Davidson helped preserve the shutout in the waning minutes of the stanza, denying junior Tim Winn (Sutton, MA/Sutton) with a nice kick save.

Babson came out of the break with some chances to cut its deficit in half, including a breakaway attempt from senior Jonny Hakala (New Ipswich, NH/Mascenic Regional) with less than 31 minutes remaining. Hakala broke free down the left side, pulled Davidson off his goal line and directed his left-footed shot to the right corner of the target, but the Beavers came away empty as the ball smacked the right post.

Wheaton took advantage of Babson's missed opportunity five minutes later, when freshman Yuri Moreira (Marlboro, MA/Northfield Mount Hermon School) took a through ball from classmate Josh Solomon (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxboro Regional). Moreira, who was streaking down the middle of the field, made a quick move to his right to escape pressure from Necklas before knocking home Wheaton's third tally at 64:42. Just 2:15 later, Hollett gave the Lyons a 4-0 advantage on a header off a short cross from freshman David Ferriero (Medway, MA/Medway).

Wheaton controlled play from that point forward, as the Lyons had several scoring chances down the stretch en route to finishing with 16 second-half shots. Wheaton held a decisive 24-9 advantage in shots for the game, keeping both of its weekend opponents off the scoreboard. Babson ended up with 10 of the game's 19 corner kicks. Davidson finished with five saves in the shutout victory, while Necklas had nine stops.

2007 NEWMAC MEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Wheaton 4, Babson 0

SCORING 1st 2nd Final
Babson (12-6-2) 0 0 0
Wheaton (12-6-3) 2 2 4

1st Half: WC- Eric Driscoll (unassisted) 23:45, Adam Sussman (Reed Hollett) 40:56

2nd Half: WC- Yuri Moreira (Josh Solomon) 64:42, Hollett (David Ferriero) 66:57

Goalie Saves: WC- Cole Davidson 5; BC- Chris Necklas 9

Shots: WC- 24; BC- 9

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