Bentley Heads to Le Moyne for NE10 Semifinals Showdown
WALTHAM, Mass. – Fresh off Tuesday's upset victory of top seed Adelphi in the NE10 quarterfinals, the Bentley men's soccer team now faces Le Moyne in the semifinals on Friday with a berth in the championship match on the line.
The Falcons will enter Friday's game playing some of the best soccer in the conference. They have won four in a row, all by 2-1 scores, and six of seven overall. Since the beginning of October, the team is 6-1-1.
Included in the four game winning streak is a win over Le Moyne on the final day of the regular season. Bentley needed to win just to get into the postseason, and they did just that, as Julian Stewart (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxboro) scored a 10th minute goal for a 1-0 lead, and sophomore Alec Foster (Wayland, Mass./Wayland) scored just after halftime to break a 1-1 tie.
Le Moyne, which is the No. 5 seed, went 7-4-2 in the NE10 regular season. They got to this point by defeating the No. 4 seed Southern New Hampshire on Tuesday in penalty kicks. The teams played to a 0-0 tie after 110 minutes, but the Dolphins won the PK shootout 4-2.
Bentley has had success against the Dolphins in recent seasons, with a 4-2 record in the last six meetings. Included in that are away wins in 2012 (2-1) and 2013 (2-1).
The Falcons are making their second trip to the NE10 semifinals in the last three seasons. In 2015, Bentley was the No. 4 seed, and defeated Southern Connecticut 3-2 in the quarterfinals, before they fell 2-0 to the top seed SNHU in the semifinals. This marks the third time head coach Gary Crompton has guided the Falcons this far in the postseason. The other time, in 2010, the Falcons advanced all the way to the finals before losing to Franklin Pierce 1-0.
Le Moyne made it to the finals last season, before they were beaten by Adelphi 2-1.
In Friday's other semifinal, the No. 2 seed Merrimack hosts the No. 3 seed Southern Connecticut. Merrimack defeated the 7th seed Franklin Pierce 2-0 in the quarterfinals, and the Owls eliminated the 6th seed Saint Rose 3-1.
The NE10 championship match will take place on Sunday at 1:00 pm, at the home site of the highest seed remaining.