CHICOPEE, Mass. – The sixth-seeded Southern Vermont College men's soccer team lost its opening-round New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) playoff match, 4-1, Wednesday night at No. 3 Elms College.

                The Mountaineers finish the 2012 season with an overall record of 3-14 (2-5 NECC).  The Blazers move to 9-7-2, their most wins since 2004; Elms moves on to play at No. 2 Mitchell College in the NECC semifinals on Friday at 2 p.m.

                In a first half that was evenly contested throughout, Elms edged Southern Vermont in shots, 12-8, but the Mountaineers went on the board first when junior Pierre Massena (West Milford, N.J.) connected for a beautiful header into the lower left corner of the net following a long throw-in by senior Connor Murray (Litchfield, Conn.) in the 33rd minute of action to give Southern Vermont a 1-0 lead.

                The Mountaineers held their advantage into the 66th minute of action before Joseph Coleman (Easthampton, Mass.) scored the equalizer on a splendid touch pass from sophomore forward Joelle Reyes (San Salvador, El Salvador) to set the score at 1-1.

                Less than three minutes later, Gerard Lawler (Langwarrin, Victoria, Australia)put Elms ahead, 2-1 when he found the back of the net from 25 yards out on a free kick. The Blazers then struck for their third goal in a seve- minute span when Coleman delivered a curling pass around a Southern Vermont defender to senior forward Tavish Leland (Bridgton, Maine) who capitalized with his first goal of the season to give Elms a 3-1 lead.

               The Blazers added their final tally in the 82nd minute when Lawler found Reyes with a long through ball and Reyes then chipped the ball over the defense to junior forward Adam O'Grady (Somers, Conn.) who scored his league-leading 14th goal of the season to give the Blazers a 4-1 lead.

               Massena registered five shots on goal in the losing effort for Southern Vermont, and Ruben Olivares (Pico Rivera, Calif.) added two of his own.

               Freshman goalkeeper Christopher Dunham (Valley Falls, N.Y.) made four saves between the pipes in the loss.

               Elms' freshman goalkeeper Nicholson Pennant (Kingston, Jamaica) played the first 45 minutes and made six saves, while freshman net-minder Christian Kostka (Oxford, Conn.) made one stop in 40:53 of action in the second period. First-year goalkeeper John Matrisciano (West Haven, Conn.) added two saves in the final 4:07 to help preserve the win.