Springfield, Mass. -- November 7, 2011 -- The Springfield College men's soccer team will play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 12 years, and to lead off the tournament will play Eastern Connecticut State University Saturday (Nov. 12) at Amherst College at 11:00 am. Springfield advanced to the NCAA Tournament by winning the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference championship this past weekend at Babson. On Saturday, the #2-seeded Pride defeated #3-seeded Wheaton, 2-1, in a semifinal by coming up with two goals in the latter stages of the game. On Sunday, against #1-seeded Babson, the Pride came up with another goal in the late stages to tie matters at 1-1. After two overtime periods, the match was determined by penalty kicks with Springfield outscoring the Beavers, 4-3. By virtue of those penalty kicks, Springfield advanced to represent the NEWMAC with the automatic NCAA bid.
Springfield will enter the tournament with a 10-4-4 overall record. Eastern Connecticut will enter the tournament with a 14-5-1 overall mark.
Eastern wound up winning the Little East post-season tournament in order to to reach the NCAA's for the fourth time in the last five years. Eastern defeated Keene State, 1-0, in the title match.
The other two teams in the pod include host Amherst College with a record of 14-1-2 and Husson University with a record of 13-6-1. The games will be played on Saturday, with the two winners to meet on Sunday.
Steffen Siebert enters his second season at the helm of the Springfield College men's soccer program in the fall of 2013. After three seasons as an assistant coach, Siebert led the Pride to its second-straight trip to the NEWMAC Championship in his first season. Read more.