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

WORCESTER, MASS. 10/31/07 - Marc Labbe's (Waterville, Me.) goal broke a 1-1 tie and lifted the fourth-seed Clark University men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over fifth-seed MIT in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) quarterfinal round game at Granger Field on Wednesday night.

Clark (7-4-6) will face top-seed Wheaton College in the semifinals in Norton, Mass., on Saturday (10:30 a.m.). Second-seed Babson College defeated seventh-seed WPI in penalty kicks (3-1) in the other first-round contest and will face third-seed Springfield College, a 2-1 winner over sixth-seed Coast Guard, that same day at Wheaton. MIT concludes the season at 9-5-2.

MIT took a 1-0 lead after senior Chris Desroches' (Middleboro, Mass.) throw-in found freshman Christian Therkelsen (Nesbru, Norway) out in front. Therkelsen dribbled through two defenders and fired a shot over Clark keeper Peter Wise (Providence, R.I.) and into the far right corner in the 13^th minute.

Clark searched for the equalizer and had a strong chance to tie it up, but senior forward David Blum (Irvington, N.Y.) pushed a shot just wide of the right post with 9:42 remaining in the half. Sophomore Devin Weafer (Carmel, N.Y.) knotted the score (1-1) when he put Lino Goncalves (Newton, Mass.) cross into the top right corner of the net. The left-footed defender took a few touches on the left side and drilled a shot from 25-yards out to keep Clark in the game. Junior Mike Trobagis (Acton, Mass.) had a chance to extend Clark's lead before the break, but his header sailed over the net with just under three minutes remaining in the half.

Both teams had strong scoring chances early in the second stanza, but neither could find the back of the net. First-year Kyle Klapp's (Schenectady, N.Y.) break-away shot was smothered by MIT goalie Tom Caldwell (East Berlin, Pa.) and a bid by senior Chase Lochmiller (Littleton, Colo.) bounced off the crossbar minutes later.

The Cougars scored the go-ahead goal when Labbe broke in alone just under 30 minutes into the second frame. Returning to the game after a first-half illness, Labbe beat an MIT defender at midfield and scored his team-leading 10^th goal of the season with a rocket to the top left corner in the 75^th minute.

Wise came up big for Clark in the waning minutes as he turned aside a shot by senior Michael Allshouse (Highland Village, Tx.) with 11:47 remaining and later stopped consecutive attempts following a scramble in front of the net with under a minute left to play.

Clark outshot the Engineers 12-7, but was held even in corner kicks with five.

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MIT (9-5-2) 1 0 1

Clark University (7-4-6) 1 1 2

Clark Men's Soccer Advances To NEWMAC Semifinals With 2-1 Win Over MIT