Men's Soccer Advances To GNAC Semifinals
NEW HAVEN, Conn.-- First half goals by senior Marco Panza (Watertown, Mass.) and sophomore Nick Celia (Hanson, Mass.) lifted fifth-seeded Suffolk to a 2-0 victory over fourth-seeded Albertus Magnus in quarterfinal round play of the 2007 Great Northeast Athletic Conference men’s soccer championships Sunday afternoon at Centelano Field.
The visiting Rams, who improve to 9-6 overall on the season, advance to take on top-seeded Norwich in the Great Northeast semi-final round on Wednesday afternoon in Northfield, Vt. at 2:30 p.m.
Panza converted a pass from fellow senior Dan Pereira (Gloucester, Mass.) in the 24th minute of play to give Suffolk the only goal it would need, and Celia provided an insurance marker for the Rams with 1:19 remaining before the break when he took a feed from junior Pierre-Yves N’Goran (Abibjan, Ivory Coast).
Freshman Jack DeJesus (Swampscott, Mass.) picked up his eighth win and fourth shutout of the season in goal for Suffolk with a seven-save effort, while sophomore Gerald O’Connor (Hamden, Conn.) made three stops in net for the host Falcons, who end the year at 9-10-1 overall. The Rams outshot Albertus Magnus by a 12-9 margin for the contest in avenging a 3-1 setback suffered to the Falcons just four days ago in the regular season finale for both squads.
Suffolk dropped a 3-2 decision to Norwich during the regular season back on September 15th at Dilboy Stadium, as the Rams built a 2-0 second half lead only to see the Cadets tally three times in the final 20-plus minutes of action.
SCORING SUMMARY
SUF: Marco Panza (Dan Pereira) 23:39 1st
SUF: Nick Celia (Pierre-Yves N’Goran) 43:41 1st
GOALIE SAVES
SUF: Jack DeJesus—7
AMC: Gerald O’Connor—3