CASTLETON, Vt. – It was too little, too late as the Castleton men's soccer team's comeback fell short, 2-1, against New England College on Tuesday evening in the North Atlantic Conference Championship Tournament Semifinals at Spartan Stadium.

The Spartans' season concludes with a record of 8-9-2, while New England College (11-9) advances to face Thomas in the NAC Championship.

Dallas Desroches scored a late goal for the Spartans in the 89th minute, but it was not enough to get the Spartans back to level. Aaron Parker stopped three shots in the loss, suffering his seventh defeat of the year.

New England College's Ronsard Masamba tallied the first goal of the game, and assisted on the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute. Cooper Valinski tallied the game-winner, while Maxime Danis stopped six shots in net.

It was a physical first half that saw a trio of yellow cards handed out, though neither team could crack into the scoring column before the break. In the 57th minute, the Pilgrims got on the board first, quickly moving the ball down the field in transition. Siad Haji played a long lead pass to Masamba, who fielded the ball near the top of the box. The forward then ripped a left-footed shot over the outstretched hand of Parker to make it 1-0 in favor of the visitors.

Castleton had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the 62nd minute, when the ball came to Paul Phillips on the wing. The senior pulled the trigger on a shot from 25 yards out, rocketing one towards the top-left corner of the goal. Danis had other ideas, as he made a leaping save to send the ball over the net and end the Spartan threat. Castleton had another opportunity in the 71st minute, when Mason Thompson got a shot off in the box that was bounding towards the bottom-left corner, but a diving save by Danis staved off another chance and held the Spartans scoreless still.

NEC struck once more in the 73rd minute, adding an insurance goal that turned out to be of great importance. Masamba sent a cross from right to left, where Valinski played it off his chest to himself before driving a left-footed shot into the far side of the goal for a 2-0 edge.

The Spartans continued the search for goals late in the game, as they applied constant pressure in the final minutes of the contest. With just more than one minute remaining in the game, Jack Kingdon sent a ball into the box from the right wing, where Desroches put a head on it and sent it towards the goal. The ball was destined for the net regardless, but the foot of a New England College defender helped it reach its destination quicker to make it a 2-1 game.

Castleton outshot NEC 12-4 in the second half to hold a 17-14 edge in the contest, including a 7-5 advantage in shots on goal. New England College was called for 15 fouls, while Castleton was called for eight and the Spartans had a 5-2 edge in corner kicks.