'On This Day' May’s Outstanding Play Takes Express to OT for NEAC Title
'On This Day' is a Wells College Athletics feature series taking a look back on events that occurred on this day, Nov. 8, five years ago in 2015.
MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Wells College men's soccer team concluded its best season in team history with a 1-0 overtime loss to Morrisville State College in the North Eastern Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Championship Game. The Mustangs have earned the league's automatic qualifying bid and will head to the NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament later in the month.
Wells goalkeeper Owen May was the star of the game for the Express, turning away several sure goals in regulation time. He finished with eight saves, the second-most he has made all season. The Express backfield also made several impressive plays throughout regulation, limiting the Mustangs to nine shots on goal out of the team's 21 total attempts.
After 90 minutes of scoreless action in regulation time, the Express and Morrisville State headed to its second overtime contest of the year. Only 1:52 into the overtime stanza, the Mustangs' Joe Sheehan was granted a corner kick that he quickly sent into the mix. Bouncing around in the goalmouth, the ball kicked backwards toward the empty net and would have crossed the goal line without incident, but a Wells player made a desperate lunge to save the guaranteed goal.
Per soccer rules, an automatic red card was issued and a penalty kick opportunity was granted to Morrisville State's Danny Peckham, who fired home his third goal of the season to win his team's second-straight NEAC Championship. The Mustangs' Alan Peckham was selected as the NEAC Men's Soccer Tournament Most Valuable Player for his defensive efforts.
The Express finished its 10th season as a varsity program with a 13-7 record, setting team records in overall victories (13) and conference wins (9). Wells finished with the most-ever team points scored, tallying 34 goals and 31 assists for 99 points (34-31=99). The team's 4.95 points per game on offense is also a team record, as is the squad's collective 0.93 goals-against average.
EXPRESS NOTABLES
Wells qualified for the conference's title match after posting a thrilling 2-1 win against Keuka on Saturday in the NEAC Semifinals, posting the team's first victory in the playoffs since Nov. 3, 2009, a 1-0 win over Morrisville State. In the contest, freshman Jack Pilgrim (North Kingstown, R.I.) and senior Max Cherry (Ridgewood, N.J.) scored goals to lift the Express out of an early one goal hole.
Entering Sunday's match against the Mustangs, Wells has recorded nine victories in its last 10 matches with the single loss coming against SUNY Poly on Oct. 17. Extending the range of contests further, Wells has only lost twice in its last 13 matches.
Entering the title game and excluding the two Morrisville State victories against the first-year Wells men's soccer team in 2006, the remaining eight games between the two programs have all been decided by only one goal – four of those contests reached double-overtime.
The men's soccer team will be the second Wells team to reach the finals of a NEAC Championship in 2015 – the field hockey program claimed its first-ever league championship on Oct. 31. The Express are seeking its first-ever league title in men's soccer.
Wells will look for its eighth NEAC Championship since joining the league in 2007 and its 16th overall conference championship since the dawn of intercollegiate athletics in the mid-1970's.
Head Coach Dan Kane of the Wells College men's soccer team was selected as the North Eastern Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Coach of the Year and five Express players were named all-conference. Tyler Morris earned placement on the NEAC First Team while Jack Pilgrim was selected to the conference's second team. Max Cherry, Jesse Constantino Owen May were voted to the league's third team.
Boxscore: https://www.wells-express.com/sports/msoc/2015-16/boxscores/20151108_w1sy.xml