The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference

NORTON, MA- Senior co-captain Trevor Cote (Portsmouth, RI/Providence Country Day School) posted the game-winner and assisted on the game's second tally, leading the Wheaton College men's soccer team to a 2-0 win over local foe Bridgewater State College in Wednesday's opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Keefe Field. Improving its NCAA Tournament home mark to 4-0, the Lyons raised their overall record to 13-6-3 and will travel to Middlebury College on Saturday for a second-round matchup at 1:00 p.m. Saturday's winner advances to the following weekend's sectional semifinal. The Bears end their year at 8-11-2.

The Lyons opened play with the game's first five corner kicks, including one that glanced off the crossbar, but came away empty. Midway through the first stanza, Bridgewater State freshman Donald Flores (Cranston, RI/Cranston East) nearly gave the visitors a 1-0 edge as he rifled a shot from 30 yards out, but Wheaton freshman goalie Cole Davidson (Needham, MA/Salisbury School) managed to get just enough fingertip on the ball to force it off the crossbar and out of harm's way.

Junior Jon Nutting (Rockland, MA/Rockland) also nearly capitalized for the Bears with a little over 15 minutes to play in the half, but his header attempt nailed the crossbar. With under 10 to go, the Lyons responded with Cote's putback on a shot by freshman Josh Solomon (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxboro Regional) and save by Bear senior Drew Pontbriand (Fairhaven, MA/Fairhaven). Holding advantages of 11-4 in shots and 6-2 in corners, Wheaton took its one-goal lead into the break.

Neither team created many scoring chances in the first part of the second stanza, but midway through the Lyons had a chance to double their advantage. Freshman Yuri Moreira (Marlboro, MA/Northfield Mount Hermon School) and sophomore Adam Sussman (Swampscott, MA/Swampscott) had consecutive point-blank shots, but both were turned aside by Pontbriand. Wheaton broke through in the 77th minute, as Cote used his head to flick a monster throw-in from freshman Jake Wagner (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) over to first-year David Ferriero (Medway, MA/Medway), who tapped in the shot at the doorstep.

Bridgewater's best chance to cut into its deficit came with six minutes remaining, but junior Jarrett Sorge's (West Boylston, MA/West Boylston) shot from deep in the Wheaton zone was denied by Davidson, who collected his third consecutive shutout while finishing with three saves. Pontbriand was credited with four stops. The Lyons took 18 of the game's 28 shots and six of the nine corners.

Wheaton 2, Bridgewater State 0

SCORING                             1st      2nd      Final
Bridgewater State (8-11-2)      0        0        0
Wheaton (13-6-3)                    1        1        2

1st Half: WC- Trevor Cote (Josh Solomon) 35:34

2nd Half: WC- David Ferriero (Cote, Jake Wagner) 76:24

Goalie Saves: WC- Cole Davidson 3; BSC- Drew Pontbriand 4

Shots: WC- 18; BSC- 10

Cote's Game-Winning Tally Pushes Wheaton Men's Soccer Past Bridgewater State, 2-0