Boston, MA- On Saturday November 3rd the Men's and Women's Soccer teams will be traveling up to Vermont to take on Green Mountain College in the NIAC Championship. The Lady Falcons have already gone head-to-head with Eagles twice this season with each team taking home one of the wins. The Men's teams are in a similar boat, with their lone match up of the season resulting in a 0-0 tie.
The women are preparing for their match-up behind the leadership of their five seniors. While Delaney McNulty (Northbridge, CA) will be out of action for the game, she will still be a vocal presence on the sideline helping Coach Crowder lead the team to their first NIAC Championship. Alison Mosdale (Marlborough, CT) looks to be the lynch pin on the attack creating opportunities with her quick feet and rocket throw-ins that have been pivotal all season in setting up some major scoring opportunities. On the season, Mosdale already has 14 goals and 10 assists for a total of 38 points. Working with Mosdale will be freshman Carla DaSilva (Somerville, MA) and sophomore Grace Roach (Hutchinson, MN), who have combined for an additional 14 points on the season.
Senior's Chelsea Browne (Milford, MA) and Darien Lavino (Tewksbury, MA) are going to be partnering up with junior Reilly Demers (Wilbraham, MA) and freshman Josie Mejia (Malden, MA) in front of fellow freshman goalkeeper Alexandra Colvin (Longmont, CO) to keep the Eagles off the board and out of their defensive end. Combined on the year, this defensive force has allowed only 189 total shots on goal this season, helping to limit the attack of their opponents. This defensive core has not been without its contributions to the attack as well with an additional 10 points credited to this unit.
Tying these two dominating ends together will be Senior Sarah Backholm (Sutton, MA) who will look to be a distributing force in the midfield, helping to relay that ball up and out of danger and into scoring opportunities. Helping on the transition will be sophomore Will Memeus (Everett, MA) and Freshman Melissa Shoniker (Rochester, NY). Memeus has already shown herself to be an asset in the midfield with her quick eliminations and leading passes. She has 8 goals and 10 assists on the season and is currently third on this team with points, behind McNulty's 30 points and Mosdale's 38.
The Fisher Men's team takes the field as the second game of the afternoon looking to break the stale mate that these two teams have been sitting at since their previous meeting earlier this season. The men will be looking to finish what they started against the Eagles, as their last match finished 0-0 after 110 minutes of play. The Falcons had nearly doubled the scoring opportunities in the game, but were unable to put in the game winner. The Falcons will look towards their senior leadership to help push the team towards their first championship with their solid presence in the backfield. Seniors Andrew Leveillee (Coventry, RI), David Serrano (Val Verde, CA), Carlos Acevedo (Everett, MA) and Aram Kaya (Waltham, MA) are the defensive wall that has kept Green Mountain scoreless against the Falcons so far this season.
Between the pipes the Falcons have two great goaltenders that have splitting time this season with sophomore Christopher Garcia (Rowland Heights, CA) and senior Eliseu DePina (Dorchester, MA) making the tough stops that have led to seven games this season with two goals or less allowed and two shutouts in the mix. Garcia played the last match against the Eagles in the competitive 0-0 ties, DePina will look to keep the cage empty as he steps onto pitch. DePina has already made 32 saves on the season and hold a 74.4% save percentage and will be looking for his own piece of the shout action this season.
The Falcons offense will look towards scoring leaders Joel Bailey (Deridder, LA), Rolando Pinero (Cape Coral, FL) and Kervens Surpris (Pompano, FL) to spice things up in the Eagles defensive zone. Bailey, who was asked to play as an emergency goal keeper this season, has a unique perspective to finding the back of the net that he hopes to capitalize on it to break the stalemate between the two teams. Surpris, the team captain, will be leading the charge in the midfield to help create the opportunities needed for these young forwards to get the job done. The young freshman forward line of Bailey, Leonardo Mildor (Pompano Beach, FL), Trevor Moschiano (Geneva, NY) and Pinero look to spark an offensive attack that will carry the Falcons not only to this Championship, but for finals for years to come.
Saturday is shaping up to be the culmination of the teams season efforts to come away with the NIAC championship. The Women's Soccer team is looking for retribution after falling in the championship last year to the University of Maine- Fort Kent while the Men are playing in their first final. Games will be taking place on the Eagles Game Field on the campus of Green Mountain College. The women's game is scheduled to start at 12pm followed by the men at 2:30pm. The plaque presentations will commence at the conclusion of each game.