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

BABSON PARK, Mass. -- Babson College senior captain Chris Necklas (Guilford, Conn.) stopped three of the four penalty kicks that he faced to help the second-seeded Beavers advance past seventh-seeded WPI in the quarterfinals of the 2007 New England and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Men's Soccer Tournament at Hartwell-Rogers Field on Wednesday afternoon. The contest officially ended in a 1-1 double-overtime tie, with Babson moving on to the semifinals with a 3-1 PK advantage.

Babson (11-5-2) took a 1-0 lead at the 38-minute mark, as sophomore Ryan Putman (Doylestown, Pa.) beat a defender at midfield and played the ball down the right side to first-year Dan Hixon (Foxboro, Mass.). Hixon then hit a long cross to the far side of the box, where junior Tim Winn (Sutton, Mass.) headed it past rookie goalie Paul Moan (Watertown, Mass.) for his league-leading 15^th goal of the season at 38:08.

The Beavers nearly doubled their advantage in the 57^th minute, but Moan made a terrific save on a breakaway attempt by Winn. The Beavers' junior All-American then hit another missile from the top of the box that was immediately followed up by senior Juan Rodriguez (Sao Paulo, Brazil), but Moan successfully stopped both shots to keep it a one-goal game with just under 12 minutes remaining in regulation.

Following Moan's back-to-back saves, WPI moved the ball up field and eventually scored the tying goal after a Babson foul just outside the box. On the restart, sophomore Dominic DeChiara (Kingston, Mass.) hit a perfect curving serve to the left side of the box, where classmate Tommy Zajac (Merrimack, N.H.) headed it back into the far right corner of the net for his first goal of the season at 79:35.

That would prove to be the final goal of the contest, although both teams had excellent opportunities during the remainder of regulation and the two overtimes. WPI junior Ben Gilde's (Manchester, N.H.) header off another free kick with 5:30 left in the second half floated just over the crossbar, and Moan made a clean catch of a header by Babson first-year Harrison Heller (Fort Wayne, Ind.) with 1:35 remaining. WPI then had a great chance when rookie Keeon Tabrizi (Harvard, Mass.) got a clean look at a header from directly in front of the net with four minutes to go in the first overtime, but Necklas answered with a spectacular leaping save, tipping the ball over the crossbar to keep the game even.

The Engineers continued to pressure the Babson defense early in the second overtime, but Necklas made a nice diving save to his right on a hard shot by sophomore Evan Demers-Peel (Norton, Mass.) from 25 yards out at 101:45. Babson then had its best chance of the extra session when Winn got behind the defense on the left side and appeared to have an open look on Moan. However, the rookie keeper came charging out and intercepted the junior forward's final dribble attempt before he could get a shot off.

WPI's final opportunity of the overtime period came off another dangerous free kick by DeChiara, as he hit a ball from 40 yards out to senior Brandon Finzel (Northport, N.Y.), who headed a hard shot from the top of the box toward the upper right corner. However, Necklas made another stellar save that was nearly identical to his stop on Tabrizi earlier in the game, as he tipped the ball just over the crossbar with only 20 seconds left to play. The period and the contest eventually ended in a 1-1 deadlock.

The Engineers shot first in penalty kicks, but Necklas made a huge diving stop to his right on the visitors' first attempt. Senior Chris Schwartz (Guilford, Conn.) then converted his team's first attempt against reserve keeper Kirk Dragsbaek (Sherborn, Mass.), and Necklas put his team in a commanding position by making another magnificent diving save, this time to his left, on WPI's second shot.

Dragsbaek kept WPI's hopes alive with a big stop on Babson's second kick, and the Engineers knotted the score at 1-1 Gilde blasted a shot into the lower left corner. However, Hixon buried his attempt into the upper right corner to put Babson back in front 2-1 after three rounds, and Necklas made his third save in four chances on WPI's next kick to give Babson a chance to seal it. Winn then finished it off for the Beavers, as he ripped his attempt inside the left post to send his team into the semifinal round.

Necklas was brilliant in net for the Beavers, finishing with four official saves to go along with the three clutch stops in the penalty kick shootout. Moan was also spectacular in a last-second start for WPI after sophomore starter Steve Hoffer (Lake Placid, N.Y.) was injured in warm-ups. The backup keeper made a total of six saves before giving way to Dragsbaek in the PK round.

Babson will now take on the winner of tonight's quarterfinal match between #3 Springfield at #6 Coast Guard in the semifinals at Wheaton this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. WPI (3-13-1) sees its season come to a close.

2007 NEWMAC MEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT - QUARTERFINALS

WPI vs Babson College (Oct 31, 2007 at Babson Park, MA)

WPI (3-13-1) vs. Babson College (11-5-2)

Date: Oct 31, 2007 Attendance: 100

Goals by period 1 2 OT O2 SO Tot

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WPI........................ 0 1 0 0 0 - 1

Babson College...... 1 0 0 0 0 - 1

SCORING SUMMARY:

1. 38:08 BAB Tim Winn (Dan Hixon;Ryan Putman)

2. 79:35 WPI Tommy Zajac (Dominic DeChiara)

Shots: WPI 11, Babson College 17

Saves: WPI 6 (Paul Moan 6), Babson College 4 (Chris Necklas 4)

#2 Babson and #7 WPI tie, 1-1, in 2OT. Babson advances to

semifinal round on PKs, 3-1

Babson Men's Soccer Ties WPI, 1-1, Advances on Penalty Kicks