SMITHFIELD, R.I. â€" Senior Evan Heymann (Ipswich, Mass.) was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men’s Soccer Tournament after scoring a pair of goals to lead Western New England to a 2-1 victory against host Johnson & Wales in the title match Saturday afternoon (Nov. 4) at Bryant Stadium.

This was a rematch of last year’s GNAC final won by the visiting Wildcats 2-1 in overtime. JWU also captured this year's regular season meeting 3-2 in overtime in Springfield on Sept. 16.

Johnson & Wales took a 1-0 lead when junior Alin Oroszi (Ypsilanti, MI) put in a pass from junior Barry Phillips (West Glover, VT) after a corner kick at the 25:59 mark. JWU would take the 1-0 lead heading into halftime.

Western New England struck early in the second half when Heymann took the ball at midfield from sophomore Jim Maples (Pleasant Valley, NY) and went on a breakaway, burying a shot into the right corner of the net to tie the game just 3:39 into the second stanza. 

The Golden Bears (14-5-2) scored again just five minutes later when Heymann notched his second goal (and team high 11th of the season) on a rebounded shot by Maples for a 2-1 advantage at the 53:03 mark. 

That would prove to be the game-winner as the Golden Bears then held on for the victory and the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Junior Brenton Blanchard (Saline, MI) made five saves for Johnson & Wales (15-5) while senior Chris Wilk (Derry, NH) tallied four stops for Western New England College.

Wilk was named to the All-Tournament Team along with fellow seniors Rob Hensinger (Madison, CT), Tim Larocca (East Longmeadow, MA), and Michael Zawislak (Newark, DE).

Western New England College will find out its opponent in the national tournament on Monday (Nov. 6).