Leopards Fall in TCCC Title Game

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Four different players tallied goals while senior keeper Kyle Bak (Cumberland, R.I.) didn't need to make a save as the Western New England men's soccer team won its third consecutive The Commonwealth Coast Conference men's soccer championship with a 4-0 win over Wentworth.

"Western New England is a terrific team," said 13th-year head coach Bob Long.  "They are extremely well-coached and worked their system very well and deserved to win today."

After misfiring on a couple of chance early the Golden Bears finally got on the board at the 24:03 mark when senior forward Jason Sabia (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) scored from sophomore forward John Rusin (Chicopee, Mass.).  That goal snapped junior keeper Brian Pearsall's (Sanford, Maine) shutout streak at 624:06.  Western New England added to its lead with 2:21 left in the half when junior forward John Parsons (Sunderland, Mass.) scored from freshman midfielder Shawn DaCruz (Ludlow, Mass.).

"We really didn't make any adjustments after getting down, 1-0," said Long.  "On the first goal there was a communication breakdown so we didn't feel as though we needed to change anything.  We had hoped to go into the half down by only a goal, but they caused a turnover at midfield and were able to score off it to make it a 2-0 game at the break.

The Golden Bears added their third goal of the afternoon when sophomore midfielder Shawn Fitzpatrick (Burnt, Hills, N.Y.) set up sophomore midfielder Corey Howard (Hopedale, Mass.) at the 54:10 mark before junior forward Kienan Garn (Lake Huntington, N.Y.) round out the scoring on a feed from senior forward Ryan Praleikas (Naugatuuck, Conn.) at 74:57.

Western New England held a decisive, 24-6 shot advantage and held the Leopards without a shot on goal.  Pearsall made 10 saves for Wentworth.

The win runs the Golden Bears' unbeaten streak to six (5-0-1) and Western New England (15-5-3) earns, for the sixth straight season, a berth in the NCAA Tournament where pairings will be announced on Monday morning.  Wentworth, which was shut out by a conference opponent for the first time since the Golden Bears pinned a 5-0 blanking on them on Oct. 10 of this season, sees its four-game win streak come a halt.  At 12-8 the Leopards are under contention for an ECAC Tournament berth, which will be announced on Monday.

 "Coach [Erin] Sullivan is a great coach and I am confident that Western New England will represent our league well in the NCAA Tournament," added Long.  "Hopefully we'll be able to get an ECAC berth and continue playing next weekend."