Carnegie Mellon and Gettysburg to Play In ECAC South Championship

Nov. 11 – (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – On a wet Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Mellon men’s soccer team hosted the semifinals of the 2006 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Men’s South Soccer Championships. In the second game of the semifinals, Carnegie Mellon defeated the Alvernia Crusaders 3-0 behind a strong early second half to earn a place in the championship game Sunday. The Tartans improve to 13-5 on the season while Alvernia College concludes their season at 11-6-4.

The two teams battled to a scoreless first half before Carnegie Mellon senior forward Jonathan Browne (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) got the Tartans on the board in the 51st minute. Freshman midfielder Jonathan Simon (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) crossed the ball from the left end line back to Browne in the center of the box who one-timed the pass into the net for his team-leading 10th goal of the season. Senior forward Andrew Park (Boise, Idaho) had a breakaway in the 56th minute and, with Crusaders goalkeeper Richard Kessler charging, Park ran onto the ball first, and his sliding shot from 30 yards out got past Kessler and into the net.

The Tartans wrapped up their scoring in the 63rd minute when Simon headed in a cross off a pass from freshman midfielder Ryan Browne (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson).

Sophomore Matthew Bazin (Mountain Lakes, N.J./Delbarton) and senior Robert Vargo (West Mifflin, Pa.) combined on the shutout with Bazin stopping three shots and Vargo collecting one save. Kessler made eight saves in the loss. Carnegie Mellon out shot the Crusaders 17-6 on the day.

The Gettysburg Bullets took on Grove City College in the first game of the semifinals and defeated the Wolverines 2-0. Gettysburg midfielders Kieran Lade and Ryan Peiffer each scored goals in the win. Lade’s goal came in the 68th minute and Peiffer added an insurance goal in the 82nd minute.

The Tartans advance to play Gettysburg in the ECAC South Championship game tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Gesling Stadium here at Carnegie Mellon.