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Fantl, Barney NSCAA All-Region Selections
Seven recognized with Little East Conference honors
EASTERN WELL-REPRESENTED ON INAUGURAL LEC FALL ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
The Little East Conference office recently announced the honorees for the inaugural All-Academic teams for the 2007 fall season. Student-athletes earned recognition on the all-academic teams based on the following criteria: at least a sophomore academic and athletic standing, and a minimum cumulative grade point average of a 3.2. The conference office honored student-athletes in the following seven sponsored sports: field hockey, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball.
Men's Soccer : Richard Bruneau (shown at right), Maxim Fantl .
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE LISTING OF ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007
M-SOCCER ELIMINATED IN NCAA TOURNAMENT OPENER
In their first NCAA tournament appearance, Warriors fall to experienced Ephs, 2-0
KEENE, NH -- A breakthrough season which included a first Little East Conference playoff championship and which culminated in a first NCAA tournament appearance ended for men’s soccer Saturday afternoon when it was eliminated in a well-played 2-0 first-round loss to tournament-tested Williams College at the Owl Athletic Complex on the Keene State College campus.
Playing their 41st NCAA tournament match in a span of 15 years, Williams (11-4-2) scored the game-winning goal against Eastern (11-7-3) in the ninth minute of play and was finally able to add an insurance marker midway through the second half to advance into the Round of 32.
The Ephs, who qualified for the tournament on an at-large basis, move on to a second-round date here against Keene State College (11-4-5) Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Keene. Earlier Saturday, Keene eliminated York College (NY), 6-0. Keene also qualified on an at-large basis after losing to Eastern in a penalty-kick shootout in the Little East Conference championship game Sunday morning at Thomas Nevers Field.
“I’m really proud of our guys. I thought we played really well,” noted head coach Greg DeVito, who led the Warriors to a final 11-7-3 record and the Little East Conference regular-season and playoff titles in his first season. “We came up here, played hard, and we had a chance to win the game, and that’s all that you can ask for. We were a little shaky for the first 15 minutes, because we had no idea what Williams’ system was like. But once we adjusted, I thought we settled down and started knocking the ball around pretty well.”
Senior back Mike Darling’s fourth goal of the season nine minutes into the game snapped a streak of 555:06 shutout minutes for Estern senior keeper Jay Barney (Mansfield), and the Ephs escaped several Eastern attempts to record the shutout win. Moving up from his spot in the backfield, Darling found himself unmarked on the right wing. He received a pass from sophomore Conor Smith and quickly launched it high inside the far left post to give Williams a quick 1-0 advantage.
“They got that goal because we weren’t prepared for how they were going to play,” added DeVito. “I told the guys at halftime that the goal was my fault, not theirs. I told them to come out (in the second half), stay organized the way that we’ve been, and keep attacking them.”
Three minutes after Darling’s goal, Williams sophomore keeper Andrew Graham made consecutive standout saves against Eastern freshman midfielder Justin Millette (Central Village) to preserve the 1-0 lead. Millette found space inside the six-yard box and fired an initial shot which Graham knocked down. Millette returned the rebound toward the net, but Graham repeated his effort, batting the shot down again.
“We had our chances,” pointed out DeVito. “I thought their goalkeeper made a couple of big saves, and they’re a very good attacking team and I thought that we did a nice job of handling it, and created our own chances, as well.”
Just over a minute after Millette was foiled, Williams freshman Gaston Kelly nearly made it 2-0. He first hit a long drive hit the crossbar – just beyond he dive of Barney – then sent a header wide, and finally put a third attempt over the crossbar.
Still nursing its 1-0 lead, Williams put the game away when first-team all-conference midfielder Ryan Pelletier scored his fourth goal of the season on a cross from Darling. The play originated on the right wing and the ball was sent forward by all-conference junior Sam Empson up the right flank to Darling. Darling carried the ball for 20 yards before sending a pass into the box. The ball bounced past an Eastern defender to Pelletier, who beat Barney in a 1-on-1 opportunity.
Williams had an overall 19-14 advantage in shots, but managed only one more shot on net than Eastern. The Warriors limited Williams to only two corner kicks, collecting four of their own.
“A times, we played well and other times we were sloppy,” said Williams coach Mike Russo afterward. “Eastern is a very good team. They had a couple of weapons -- Justin Millette and Maxim Fantl. Overall, I was pleased getting a 2-0 victory and going on to play Keene.”, added the 29th-year head coach, a four-time national Coach-of-the-Year.
Eastern brought a streak of five straight shutouts into its 13th post-season appearance, first since joining the NCAA in the early 1970s. A co-captain, Barney entered play ranked sixth nationally in save percentage. He concludes this season with an .880 save percentage, 0.68 goals-against average and seven shutouts. In a 66-game career, Barney recorded 23 shutouts in 62 starts, with an .859 save percentage and 0.84 GAA.
The match was also the final one in the careers of senior midfielders Richard Bruneau (Bristol) and Eric Boisvert (Newington). Also a co-captain, Bruneau came off the bench against Williams to play a season-high 71 minutes, while Boisvert played the final 18 minutes while still nursing a balky ankle which kept him out of both conference playoff matches. Bruneau appeared in 73 matches in four years – totaling five goals and six assists -- while Boisvert saw time in 17 matches in each of his two seasons at Eastern after playing on a 2003 NCAA tournament team at Western Connecticut State University. He had three assists in an Eastern uniform.
Williams College 2, Eastern Conn. 0
Eastern Conn. (11-7-3) 0 0 -- 0
Williams College (11-4-2) 1 1 -- 2
Scoring: Mike Darling (Conor Smith) 9:00; Ryan Pelletier (Sam Empson, Darling) 62:21.
Shots: E-14, W-19; Saves: E-Jay Barney 5, Andrew Graham 5.
Corner kicks: E-4, W-2.
