FRAMINGHAM, Mass. --Led by tournament MVP Conor Murtagh (Walpole, Mass.), the fifth-seeded Bridgewater State University men's soccer team captured the 2015 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament championship with a 3-2 finals victory over #2 Framingham State University on Sunday afternoon at Maple Street Field.
With the win, Bridgewater (17-3-1) has earned the league's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament. The Bears, who also won the MASCAC crown in 2004, 2007 and 2013, advance to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history (1990, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2014).
Murtagh tallied a pair of goals on the afternoon, including the game-winner, while also adding an assist as he had a hand in all three scores. The senior forward now has 17 goals and eight assists for 42 points as he tied the Bears' single-season scoring mark set by David Son in 1991. Murtagh is also one goal shy of Son's single-season goal record of 18 also set in '91.
After the Rams found the back of the net just 38 seconds into the contest on goal by junior midfielder Simon Appiah (Worcester, Mass.), the Bears answered with three unanswered first half tallies.
Senior forward Andrew Chenard (Kingston, Mass.) tied the score in the 18th minute with Murtagh setting up the game-tying strike. For Chenard, the goal marked his sixth of the season.
In the 24th minute Murtagh headed in a long free kick from junior defender Jonathan Pires (Medford, Mass.) to give the Bears the 2-1 advantage. Murtagh would strike again in the 41st minute off a corner kick when he again sent a header into the net this time with Pires and freshman midfielder Diego DelasCasas (Miami, Fla.) assisting.
The Rams cut the deficit to 3-2 early in the second half when freshman midfielder Ken Stahovish (Springfield, Mass.) drilled a long strike which hit the crossbar and came straight down. The ball was ruled to have landed over the goal line.
BSU junior goaltender Colin Jepson (Sandwich, Mass.) made seven saves to notch his school-record 17th win of the season. Jepson's counterpart Josh Arno (Natick, Mass.) made three stops for the Rams.
Bridgewater went 10-0 against MASCAC opponents this season and an impressive 7-0 on the road.
NCAA Division III Tournament pairings will be announced on Monday with the selection show getting underway at 1:30 PM on NCAA.com.
Notes: With his two-goal, one-assist performance, Murtagh moved into second place on the Bears' all-time goal scoring list and is now third among the Bears' all-time scoring leaders. He he now has 31 goals and ten assist for 72 points in four seasons at Bridgewater State.