Four Second Half Goals Lift No. 3 Men's Soccer over No. 6 Southern Vermont College in NECC Championship First Round

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College sophomore forward Joseph Coleman (Easthampton, Mass.) and freshman midfielder Gerard Lawler (Langwarrin, Victoria, Australia) each scored a goal and assisted on another to help lift the third-seeded Blazers to a 4-1 victory over No. 6 Southern Vermont College in Wednesday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship tournament first round game at Leary Field.

With the win, Elms improves to 9-7-2 overall and posts its highest win total since the 2004 season. The Blazers advance to play No. 2 Mitchell College (7-7) in semifinal action on Friday, Nov. 2 at 2:00 p.m. in New London, Conn. The Mariners earned a first round bye following a 5-2 record in conference play. Southern Vermont concludes its season 3-14 overall.

In a first half that was evenly contested throughout, Elms edged Southern Vermont in shots, 12-8, but the Mountaineers drew first blood when 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 Connor Murray (Litchfield, Conn.) in the 33^rd minute of action to give Southern Vermont a 1-0 lead.

The Mountaineers held its advantage into the 66^th minute of action before Coleman 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, Lawler 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 seven 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 82^nd 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  14^th 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.

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.