Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Pat Gaumond (Holden, Mass.) scored in the 96th minute to send fourth-seeded Nichols to the Commonwealth Coast Conference Men's Soccer Championship semifinals with a 2-1 overtime victory over fifth-seeded Western New England on Saturday night at Michael J. Vendetti Field. The Bison (12-8) move on to play Roger Williams in Bristol, R.I. for a match tentatively scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Western New England ends its season with a 9-8-3 record.
 
Gaumond knocked home a deflection on a shot originally taken by first-year Tiago Prazeres (West Hartford, Conn.) with 4:13 remaining in the first overtime session to end the match with a 2-1 Bison victory. Less than two minutes earlier, the Golden Bears had a chance to end it as junior Jake Bartnik (East Longmeadow, Mass.) fired a shot at Nichols rookie netminder Francesco Chiaravalloti (Torrington, Conn.) who made the diving save.
 
“It's very exciting for the young student-athletes and for the guys who have put in the time in for four years, I'm very happy for them,” stated head coach Chris Traina. “The game was fantastic; it was toe-to-toe. Both teams capitalized on missed opportunities which is a characteristic of very good teams.”
 
In the ninth minute of the contest, senior Scott Coderre (Thompson, Conn.) knocked home his ninth goal of the season and 36th of his career to move into a tie with Jim Rattigan, who played from 1965 to 1967, for second all-time in the Nichols record book as he deposited the ball into an open net. Four minutes later, Bartnik took advantage of a breakaway opp­ortunity for his fourth marker of the season to bring the contest back to a stalemate.
 
In the 18th minute, Western New England backstop junior Domenick Villano (Bronxville, N.Y.) made a diving stop on a free kick taken 30-yards out by first-year Tiago Prazeres (West Hartford, Conn.). Each side had a chance later in the half. With 12:32 left in the frame, junior Pat Gaumond (Holden, Mass.) looked to deposit a cross from Prazeres only to have the ball go high. Junior Alex Mazzella (Cheshire, Conn.) attempted to put the Golden Bears on top just 1:23 after entering the match with a header that went high. Western New England outshot the Bison 11-6 and took four of the five corner kicks in the stanza.
 
After the break, Coderre had a pair of good chances. At 50:04, the senior hit the post from six yards out. Nine minutes later Coderre fired a laser from 25 yards out a diving Villano swatted the ball away. Nichols took a 10-7 advantage in shots as the Golden Bears were awarded all three corner kicks.
 
Chiaravalloti improved to 2-1-0 on the year in a seven save effort while Villano (2-4-2) made eight stops for Western New England.