Western New England College advances against Gordon on penalty kicks in TCCC Championship semifinals

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD Mass. – Senior goalkeeper Kyle Bak (Cumberland, RI) came up big at the right time.

Bak recorded only two saves in 110 minutes through two scoreless overtime periods, but he made two magnificent stops in the shootout session as the top-seeded Western New England College men's soccer team moved past upset-minded fifth-seeded Gordon 3-2 on penalty kicks in a semifinal round match of The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Tournament Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 3).

The Golden Bears will host third-seeded Wentworth (who defeated Roger Williams 2-0) at 1:00 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 7) in the championship match with the winner receiving an automatic invitation to the NCAA Division III Championship. The teams met in the 2007 conference title contest with WNEC prevailing 3-0.

Western New England College's 0-0 tie with the Fighting Scots was its 14th shutout of the season. WNEC posted a 2-0 win over Gordon in their regular season meeting back on October 3 in Wenham, Massachusetts.

The Golden Bears held a big 24-5 advantage in shots, but couldn't score thanks to the sharp goal tending of freshman Ryan Coil (Brentwood, TN) who turned away 14 shots, including five in overtime.

It was a hard-hitting, physical game with 35 fouls (19 for Gordon, 16 for WNEC).

In the shootout, freshman Kellen Kasiguan (Oakwood Village, OH) scored first for the visitors before senior Tony Rosa (Ludlow, MA) answered for Western New England College.

The 6'4" Bak made a great save moving to his left on Gordon's second shot and senior Jay Sabia (Poughkeepsie, NY) fired in a shot to give the WNEC a 2-1 edge.

The Fighting Scots missed their third attempt before junior Alex Dos Santos (Ludlow, MA) connected in the top left for a 3-1 margin.

Senior Chuck Anderas (Green Bay, WI) kept GC alive with a nice shot to the right side.

Western New England College missed its fourth attempt, but Bak sent the Golden Bears to the title round for the third straight year with another terrific save going to his right.

There were several outstanding defensive plays by both teams during regulation. Freshman back Ryan Daley (Byfield, MA) slide past Coli and knocked away the possible winning goal with 3:21 left in the second half.

WNEC senior midfielder David Fitzpatrick (Burnt Hills, NY) also made a nice defensive play late in the match.

Western New England College now has a 14-5-3 record while Gordon is 10-8-1.