2005
NEWMAC MEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT - Huge Second Half Lifts Wheaton to
Fifth NEWMAC Title
NORTON,
MA- Freshman Jeff Shea (Canton, MA/Canton) posted his first career
multiple-goal game in Sunday afternoon's New England Women's and Men's
Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament championship game, leading
the number-one seed Wheaton College men's soccer team past seventh
seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 3-0 en route to
its fifth conference title in the NEWMAC's eight-year history.
Today's
title game marked the third time that Wheaton and MIT met for the
conference crown, with the Lyons winning the two previous encounters
in 2001 and 2003. Moving to 13-4-2 on the season while extending
its unbeaten streak to eight games, Wheaton will return to the NCAA
Division III Tournament for the third consecutive season and sixth
time overall. The Engineers finish their season at 9-9.
Despite
numerous scoring opportunities from the Lyons in the opening half,
the teams remained deadlocked at the intermission. A header off
the crossbar from freshman Justin Hart (Ashland, MA/Ashland) five
minutes into the contest provided Wheaton's first chance. With 26:15
remaining in the first stanza, MIT sophomore Joshua Campoverde (Grand
Fork, ND/Red River) had a breakaway down the right side of the field,
but Wheaton junior keeper David Croft (Cape Elizabeth, ME/Cape Elizabeth)
made a tremendous save to keep the game scoreless.
The
Lyons had multiple chances in the final 10 minutes of the half,
including a negated goal by freshman Dan Lane (Dedham, MA/Worcester
Academy) due to a Wheaton foul and a header off the crossbar from
sophomore Trevor Cote (Portsmouth, RI/Providence Country Day School).
Junior Cameron Habib (Norfolk, MA/Bridgton Academy) also had a golden
opportunity with five minutes to go, but his shot in close was denied
by MIT first-year goalie Thomas Caldwell (East Berlin, PA/Bermudian
Springs).
In
the second half, Shea took a header from Cote and drove his shot
into the right netting in the 49th minute. The play began on a restart
from senior James Greenslit (Framingham, MA/Rivers School) in the
middle of the field. Shea's second goal at 71:40 was also a direct
result of a Greenslit free kick. Greenslit dumped the ball in to
sophomore Ian Walker (Marblehead, MA/IMG Academy) on the left side
of the box, and Walker gave a short cross over to Shea for the header
finish.
Wheaton's
third goal came courtesy of an outstanding bicycle kick from junior
Chris Sentance (Concord, MA/Williston Northampton School) in the
84th minute. Picking up the assist was Habib, who found an open
Sentance in the top left of the box. Sentance turned his body to
the side in mid air and drove home a perfectly-placed shot past
Caldwell and into the right side of the goal. Croft turned aside
four shots in the victory, while Caldwell accounted for four stops.
Wheaton outshot MIT, 14-10, with corner kick opportunities even
at five apiece.
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