No. 3 Seed Men’s Soccer Tops Sixth-Seeded Dean, 2-0, in NECC Tournament First Round

QUINCY, Mass.- The third-seeded Eastern Nazarene College men's soccer team earned a 2-0 win over  No. 6 seed Dean in the opening round of the New England Collegiate Conference Tournament Sunday evening at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The Lions climb to 14-3-0 on the year and advance to the NECC Tournament semifinals for the second-straight season.

The home side claimed a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. Bryan Vargas (San Jose, Costa Rica) netted his fourth goal of the fall as Leon Zaffonato (Canela, Brazil) and Stanley Elie (Roslindale, Mass.) each picked up assists.

The guests nearly equalized 30 seconds later as Kyle Lameiras' effort ricocheted off the crossbar.

Eastern Nazarene generated 11 shots in the opening 45 minutes of action while Dean fired four.

The Lions stretched their advantage to 2-0 in the 69th minute. Charlie Swann (London, England) bagged his league-best 16th tally of the season, finishing off a through-ball from Sunil Lepcha (Damak, Nepal).

The hosts concluded the contest with 22 shot attempts while the visitors finished with 11 attempts.

Junior netminder Tim Eddings (Endicott, N.Y.) recorded three saves in his eighth start of the season. Bryce Antoch registered six saves between the pipes for Dean.

"I'm very proud of the way our team played tonight. Our defense played exceptionally well and our two goals were great finishes," commented head coach Mark Bell. "We're excited to keep our season going and our guys are eager to get back to work to prepare for the next round."

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene travels to second-seeded New England College in the NECC Tournament semifinals November 7.