Men's Soccer Seeded Fourth In MASCAC Championships, Hosts Fifth Seeded Bridgewater State In Quarterfinal Round Play Tuesday Evening
Posted: Nov 01, 2015

Men's Soccer Seeded Fourth In MASCAC Championships, Hosts Fifth Seeded Bridgewater State In Quarterfinal Round Play Tuesday Evening

The Massachusetts Maritime men’s soccer team begins its quest for the 2015 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference championship on Tuesday evening, as the fourth-seeded Buccaneers of Head Coach Greg Perry host fifth-seeded Bridgewater State in quarterfinal round action of this year’s league tournament at Clean Harbors Stadium beginning at 7:00 p.m. EST.

 

Massachusetts Maritime is making its third straight post season appearance with Tuesday’s quarterfinal match, as the Buccaneers posted five overall victories (three in conference play) while playing another difficult schedule in Perry’s 23rd campaign at the helm.  Junior Thomas McCarthy (Tybee Island, Ga./Benedictine Military) leads Massachusetts Maritime in scoring with six goals and an assist for 13 points, while senior Connor McInnis (Duxbury, Mass./Tabor Academy) follows with four markers and a helper for nine points.  Freshman Brendan Gawron (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) is next with two goals and an assist for five points, while sophomore Michael Rouette (Three Rivers, Mass./Monson) and junior Matthew McDonough (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) comprise the Buccaneers’ all-conference defensive duo while combining for five points on the offensive side.  Junior Joe Cohen (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth South), who earned first-team all-league accolades in goal a year ago, has made 69 saves in over 1,100 minutes of action for Perry’s squad this fall.

 

Bridgewater State is seeded fifth in this year’s MASCAC championships after a decision announced last week by the conference office, as the Bears bring an overall record of 14-3-1 into the post-season under the guidance of 14th-year Head Coach Brendan Adams.  The Bears are paced in the scoring column by reigning MASCAC Player of the Year Conor Murtagh (Walpole, Mass.), as the senior forward has netted 14 goals and four assists for 32 points.  Freshman Filipe Gomes (Fogo, Cape Verde) follows with eight goals and five assists for 21 points, while junior Colin Jepson (Sandwich, Mass.) has made 71 saves and recorded 11 shutouts in goal to date.

 

Bridgewater State claimed a 2-1 victory over Massachusetts Maritime when the teams met in regular season play on September 26th at Swenson Field in Bridgewater, Mass., as senior Kolin Campbell’s (Norton, Mass.) goal in the 56th minute of action proved to be the game-winner for the Bears.  Gawron accounted for the Buccaneer tally in the first half on a feed from junior Scott Matoian (Mashpee, Mass./Mashpee), and Cohen made seven stops in the setback.

 

Tuesday’s contest will mark the second post-season meeting between the two teams, and ironically it will fall 11 years to the day of their previous playoff match-up.  Bridgewater State bested Massachusetts Maritime by a 2-0 final in the MASCAC semifinals on November 3, 2004 in Buzzards Bay en route to claiming its first league tournament title.

 

The winner of Tuesday’s Massachusetts Maritime-Bridgewater State clash advances to the MASCAC semifinals on Friday, November 6th and will travel to top-seeded Westfield State for a 7:00 p.m. EST match at Alumni Field in Westfield, Mass.  Tuesday’s other quarterfinal round contest will see sixth-seeded Worcester State travel to third-seeded MCLA, with the winner of that match advancing to face second-seeded Framingham State in Friday’s other semifinal round clash.  The two semifinal winners will meet at the highest remaining seed for the 2015 MASCAC championship and an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championships on Sunday, November 8th.

 

For more information on this year’s MASCAC Men’s Soccer Championships, please visit www.mascac.com.