Men's Soccer Earns Birth in NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship
Framingham, MA - The top-seed Framingham State College men's soccer team captured their first ever Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament Championship on Saturday on Maple Street Field with a 2-1 victory over the second-seed Salem State Vikings. With the victory, the defending MASCAC regular season champion Rams (16-3-1) receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship. Pairings for the tournament were announced this morning and the Rams will travel to Middlebury College on Saturday and square off against the Panthers (13-2-2), who were defeated in the NESCAC Championship game.
The Rams (16-3-1) set a new school record for victories this season and finished the year unbeaten in MASCAC play at 6-0-1. They defeated the MCLA Trailblazers 3-1 in the semifinal round of the MASCAC Tournament before defeating the Vikings on Saturday in the finals.
The Rams offense this season was led by the duo of sophomore Jason
Silva (Milford, MA) and senior Johnny Goncalves (Framingham,
MA). Silva, the 2007 MASCAC Rookie of the Year, was a first
team all-conference selection and leads the Rams with 14 goals and
six assists for a team high 34 points. Goncalves, a 2008
second team selection, is second on the team in points with 29 and
this season surpassed the 100 point mark for his career.
Midfielder Mike Jones (Norwood, MA), a second team all-conference selection, had an outstanding senior season with career highs in points (18), goals (5), and assists (8) and was an integral part of the Rams offense the led the conference with 50 goals this season. Sophomore midfielder Scott Faria (Fall River, MA) was also a first team all-conference selection and added four goals and eight assists for the Rams potent offense.
Defensively, the Rams were led by a pair of first team all-conference backs in senior Steve Rosenthal (Stoneham, MA) and junior Sean Austin (Winchester, MA). All season the Rams allowed just 20 goals in 20 games and shut their opponents out nine times. Sophomore goalkeeper Greg Halle (Beverly, MA) was a second team all-conference selection and led the conference with a 0.76 GAA and 0.880 save percentage.
Middlebury will host two first round match ups on Saturday, November 15th. The second opening round game will feature Clark University (11-4-2), who received an at-large bid after being defeated in the NEWMAC Tournament, and Norwich University (17-2-1), winners of the GNAC Tournament. The winner of that match up will face the winner of the Framingham State/Middlebury match up on Sunday in the second round.