Men's Soccer to Open CCC Tournament at Nichols
Sixth-seeded Leopards set to battle third-seeded and defending champion Bison in Saturday's quarterfinal
BOSTON, Mass. – For the second time in three seasons the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's soccer team will open up the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament against the Bison of Nichols College. The sixth-seeded Leopards will travel to the third-seeded and defending CCC Champion Bison for a quarterfinal round contest on Saturday (Oct. 29) at 3:00 p.m. The game will be played on Nichols' Vendetti Field.
Wentworth, which won its lone conference championship in 1996 and has made championship game appearances in 2000, 2007, and 2009, enters the post-season with a 6-7-3 overall record, having dropped its final three regular-season contests. The Leopards 3-4-2 record in conference play gives them 11 points, two above seventh-seeded Salve Regina and two behind Roger Williams.
Offensively the Leopards are led by senior midfielder Josh Deschene (Webster, Mass.), who has a team-high 12 points coming on four goals and four assists. Three of his goals have come on three penalty kick attempts. Classmate Dan Santacroce (Northford, Conn.) enters the tournament with four goals for eight points, with three of his four goals holding up as game-winning tallies. Senior midfielder John Geleski (Wayne, N.J.) rounds out Wentworth's top three scorers with three goals and a pair of assists for eight points.
Defensively, juniors Brian Przybylowski (Merrick, N.Y.), Jake Buzzell (Haverhill, Mass.), Matt Racca (Wakefield, R.I.) as well as senior PJ Platner (Northford, Conn.) have been solid all season, helping to hold opponents to one or fewer goals in 10 of the Leopards' 16 contests. In goal junior John Longo (Needham, Mass.) has a 1.40 goals against average and a pair of shutouts.
The Bison enter the conference tournament sporting a 10-4-2 overall record and a 5-3-1 record in conference play. Nichols is 5-1-1 in its last seven contests, outscoring its opponents 11-6 during this stretch, and boasts a 6-0-2 record at home, including a 2-0-2 mark on Vendetti Field.
Saturday will mark the 28th time since 1989 the two schools have met with Wentworth holding a 19-8 series advantage. The Bison have claimed the previous two meetings – both by shutout – including a 1-0 win in Dudley back on Sept. 24. This will also mark the fifth post-season meeting between the two schools with the Leopards holding a 4-0 advantage. All of the four prior meetings in the pot-season have been at Wentworth with the Black & Gold outscoring Nichols by a 17-2 margin. Two years ago the Leopards prevailed, 1-0, in overtime.
The winner of Saturday's game advances to Tuesday's semifinal round against either second-seeded Gordon or seventh-seeded Salve Regina (to be played at the higher seed). The two semifinal winners will meet on Saturday, Nov. 5, to determine the CCC's champion and automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament.
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