Box Score WEYMOUTH, Mass. – For the first time since 2016, the New England College Men's Soccer team are conference champions, as they upset the top-seeded Eastern Nazarene College, 3-1, in the New England Collegiate Conference Championship game, Sunday afternoon at Weymouth High School.
THE BASICS
Score: New England College 3, Eastern Nazarene College 1
Records: Pilgrims (9-6-2, 3-2-1 NECC) | Lions (13-7-1, 5-0-1 NECC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
New England College came out of the gates on the attack, as they fired the first four shots of the game, with two that had to be stopped by the Eastern Nazarene keeper. Cooper Ribaudo gave the Pilgrims the lead at 16:30, as his left-footed shot from just outside the box, found the back of the net. ENC was able to respond three minutes later, as Leonardo Castro scored on a header to tie the game up. The two teams would remain tied until halftime, which saw NEC outshoot the hosts 7-3 and had all three corners.
In the second half, the 'Grims continued to apply pressure on the Lions, as they were able to breakthrough in the 74th minute. Panagiotis Galatas picked off a clearing attempt by ENC and was able to rifle a shot from the top of the box, giving NEC a 2-1 lead at 73:35. With under a minute left in regulation, Wiskens Flavil was able to capitalize on a penalty kick to seal the third conference championship in program history.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Ricardo Aguilera picked up his fourth win of the season, even though he did not record a save.
- New England College outshot Eastern Nazarene 15-6 on the day, while also having a 9-2 advantage in corners.
- This is the third conference championship in program history, NEC won in 1989 (CCC) and in 2016 (NAC).
- Cooper Ribaudo, Santiago Duarte, and Tucker Stenger were all named to the All-Tournament team, while Wiskens Flavil was named as the Tournament MVP.
- New England College has a 16-13-4 lead in the all-time series.
UP NEXT
NEC will move on to the NCAA Division III Tournament with the automatic bid.
