BENNINGTON, Vt. – In a must-win game, the Southern Vermont College men's soccer team defeated visiting Newbury College, 2-1, at Everett Field on Saturday afternoon. The teams celebrated Senior Day, honoring the three senior members of both the Mountaineers and the Nighthawks; SVC also wore pink uniforms for its Pink Out Day, supporting breast cancer awareness.
The Mountaineers (2-6 NECC, 3-13 overall) will move on to the New England Collegiate Conference playoffs, taking on Elms College on Wednesday. The loss brings Newbury's season to an end, finishing 1-5-1 in the conference (4-12-2 overall).
The majority of the first half was played in the middle third of the field with neither team having a strong advantage on the other. Newbury was able to negotiate the Mountaineer defense on a few occasions, breaking into the box but being unable to capitalize. In the 37th minute, Nighthawk junior Brian Barrios (Central Falls, R.I.) curled a 30-yard shot from the right side to the top left corner of the goal, hitting the crossbar.
Minutes later, SVC went on the board first when freshman Ruben Olivares (Pico Rivera, Calif.) took a short corner kick from sophomore Erik Argueta (Pico Rivera, Calif.), brought the ball to the top of the box and hit a low-lying shot into the goal at the 38:59 mark.
The Mountaineers carried their momentum into the second half, getting a handful of chances early in the period. They took a 2-0 advantage when senior Connor Murray (Litchfield, Conn.) crossed the ball from deep in the Nighthawk defensive end and found junior Pierre Massena (West Milford, N.J.) for his fourth goal of the season in the 61st minute.
Newbury did not let up and continued to press and make the most of its opportunities as the pace of play remained fast through the midfield. Mountaineer freshman keeper Christopher Dunham (Valley Falls, N.Y.) was able to keep the Nighthawks out of the goal until the 85th minute when Newbury sophomore Rodriguez Pierre (Sommerville, Mass.) brought the score back to a one-goal differential.
Ultimately, the 2-1 score would hold as SVC was able to posses the ball in order to work the clock, not letting Newbury take another shot in the process.
SVC head coach Tim Penrod commented that, "We came knowing that we needed a win and we couldn't afford to hold anything back. To our guys' credit, they found a way at the end of a season in which finding a way has been so hard."
The trip back to the postseason will be the team's fourth in as many years. "For all intents and purposes, our playoffs really started today," said Penrod. "It will be a very interesting conference tournament, as all six teams are more than capable of winning it, and any one of them will be a very good representative in the NCAA bracket."
The match was the last for Newbury seniors Alex Chappell (East Haddam, Conn.), Shaundize Moosavizadeh (Winchester, Mass.) and Sean Driscoll (Glens Falls, N.Y.). It also marked the last time Mountaineer seniors Douglas Spingola (East Haddam, Conn.) and Murray would play on Everett Field. Senior Chris Hansen (Raymertown, N.Y.) did not play in Saturday's game. Penrod stated that, "Being able to honor our seniors in their final home game with a win like that is a very special thing."
SVC will be the No. 6 seed in the NECC tournament, facing No. 3 Elms; the Mountaineers lost earlier in the season to the Blazers, 4-1. The time for that match is still to be determined. Fourth-seeded Regis College will host No. 5 Daniel Webster in the other quarterfinal game. Lesley University and Mitchell College, No. 1 and 2 respectively, earned a first-round bye and will host the winners of Wednesday's games.
