Men's Soccer Advances to NECC Championship with Win in PKs

WESTON, Mass. - For the first time in program history, the Regis (Mass.) men's soccer team has advanced to the New England Collegiate Conference Championship, as the team defeated Newbury College 2-1 in penalty kicks on Friday night in the conference semifinals.

With the win, the Pride improves to 11-7-1 on the season, while Newbury's season comes to a close with a final record of 11-9-1.

Newbury senior defender Prince Boateng (Worcester, Mass.) opened the scoring for the Nighthawks in the 21st minute with his second goal of the season. Off a Nilton De Andrade (Boston, Mass.) corner kick, the senior got his head to the aerial cross and banked the ball off the far post and into the net past Regis goalkeeper Manny Santiago (Bristol, Conn.) to make the score 1-0.

The Nighthawks' one-goal lead did not last long, as the Pride found the equalizing tally just under five minutes later. Regis sophomore Derek Triana (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) ran onto a through ball off the foot of teammate David Venegas (Escondido, Calif.) and broke in on a semi-breakaway down the left side. The sophomore made no mistake, tucking the ball past an on-charging goalkeeper Jarrod Smith (Watertown, N.Y.) and into the bottom right corner of the net to even the score.

Both teams had glorious chances to take the lead throughout the remainder of regulation, but neither could find the go-ahead goal. Newbury's best chance came in the 65th minute, when senior forward Ethan Forrest (East Bridgewater, Mass.) chipped the ball past Santiago on a breakaway, but Regis defender Emiky Pires (Boston, Mass.) cleared the ball off the goal line to preserve the tie. 

Regis had their best opportunity to take a late lead in the 79th minute. On a scramble in front of the net, the ball bounced to junior defender Chris Szarek (San Diego, Calif.). Szarek had a point blank chance from in close on the left hand side of the box, but Smith came up with a clutch save to keep the score even and send the game to overtime.

In the penalty kick shootout, all four Regis shooters - Triana, Venegas, Collin Thurston (Temecula, Calif.) and Brendan Placzynski (Bristol, Conn.)  - found the back of the net, but in the second round Santiago came up with a huge save on De Andrade to give the Pride the advantage. On a must-score in the fourth round, Forrest sent his shot sailing over the top of the net to secure the win for the Pride.

Santiago made four saves on the evening to earn his 11th victory of the season. Newbury's Smith stopped six shots for the Nighthawks in the losing effort.

Next up, the Pride will travel to Daniel Webster on Sunday afternoon to take part in the NECC Championship game. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.

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