Henniker, NH - New England College attack Matt Vozzolo (Somers, Conn.) netted a game-high five goals leading the Pilgrims past the visiting Castleton State College Spartans 9-5 Wednesday in ECAC Tournament action.  With the win the Pilgrims improve to 9-7 on the season and advance to the ECAC New England Semifinals which will be held on Saturday at Endicott College.  With the loss the Spartans finish their season with a record of 11-7.

NEC's Clint McDonough (Mtn. Lakes, N.J.) would get the Pilgrims on the board first netting a goal assisted by Vozzolo at the 8:39 mark in the opening quarter.  The Pilgrims would net the next three goals of the match-up, including two by Vozzolo to build a 4-0 lead with just 6:23 remaining in the opening half.

Castleton's Michael Martinez (Barrington, Ill.) would get the Spartans on the board at the 4:52 mark in the second quarter scoring an unassisted goal cutting the Pilgrim lead to 4-1.  The two teams would exchange goals in the final 30 seconds of the half, including an NEC goal by Vozzolo and a Castleton score by Derek Riley (Randolph, Vt.) sending the Pilgrims into halftime up 5-2.

The two teams would battle through much of the third quarter scoreless before Vozzolo would net his fourth goal of the afternoon with 5:55 remaining putting the Pilgrims up 6-2.  Castleton would respond as Kevin McCarthy (Johnson, Vt.) would convert on a man-up opportunity slicing the NEC lead to 6-3. 

The Pilgrims would open the fourth quarter with back-to-back goals rebuilding their five goal lead.  The Castleton offense would battle back with goals by Daniel Luzzi (Oakland, N.J.) and Jake Rick (Rochester, N.Y.) but it would not be enough as the Pilgrims would finish the game holding the 40-19 edge in shots and capture the 9-5 victory.
 
Leading the way for NEC was Vozzolo who finished with five goals and an assist. NEC's Matt Carey (Medford, N.Y) dished out four assists and Clint McDonough had a goal and an assist on the afternoon.

Picking up the win in goal for NEC was Nick Acquaviva (Syracuse, N.Y.) who stopped four shots on the afternoon.  In net for Castleton was Michael Mamunes (Manchester, Conn.) who finished with an impressive 15 saves.

Courtesy of: New England College Sports Information