Men's Soccer Advances to Title Game with Double OT Win

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College men's soccer team advanced to their second straight New England Collegiate Conference Championship game, defeating visiting Regis College, 2-1, in double-overtime, in a NECC semifinal match at Leary Field Friday evening.

Less than 10 minutes into the opening half, the Blazers delivered their first blow as freshman midfielder CJ Dabkowski (Springfield, Mass.) dribbled into the top of the box, played the ball to right side to freshman forward Bobby Zaino (Avon, Conn.), who placed a cross to the front of the goal for the finish by junior forward Connor O'Grady (Somers, Conn.), staking Elms to a 1-0 advantage.

In the 75^th minute of play, Pride sophomore forward Dillon Lanctot (Somersworth, N.H.) battled through a group of Elms defenders in the box, and played a ball to the front of the goal where junior midfielder Renato Rosas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) raced to the ball and fired a shot into the far upper corner, knotting the game at 1-1. The teams headed to overtime with the score tied at 1-1.

After a scoreless first overtime period, the Blazers broke through with the game-winner with 3:23 to play in the second overtime as senior forward Joseph Coleman (Easthampton, Mass.) fired home a loose ball knocked down by Zaino, sending the Blazers to their second straight NECC Championship game.

"Survive and advance," said Elms Head Coach Jared Sheikh. "That's the name of postseason. We expected everything that Regis gave us, and then some. [Regis] certainly didn't disappoint. I'm exceedingly proud that we were resilient on our home turf. I thought we were awfully dangerous, but our last touch failed us, and I'm not convinced that was a product of us being bad, but rather Regis being good and us being unlucky at times. Daniel Webster will be tough. They are an organized team. They are scary within the 18's, but so are we. We intend to come back to this field on Sunday and execute."

The Blazers dominated the shot category, 29-11, during the match. Elms junior goalkeeper Nick Pennant (St. Andrew, Jamaica) made four saves for the Blazers, while Regis sophomore keeper Manny Calderon (Bristol, Conn.) stopped a game-high 13 shots.

The Blazers improved to 9-7-3 on the season, while Regis dropped to 9-11 overall. Elms advances to host second-seed Daniel Webster College in the championship game at Leary Field Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.

ELMS SOCCER