Playing a very tough non-conference schedule, Wentworth opened the 2007 season at the Babson Invitational.  The season opener saw the Leopards battle WPI and come away with a 2-1 win.  That win was the 100th career victory for head coach Bob Long, who recently completed his 11th season as the Leopards’ head coach.

Eight games into the season Wentworth was 5-3 and had just been upset, 2-1, by Curry in a game that snapped a 13-game home unbeaten streak.  That loss would be the last for the Leopards for exactly one month, as Wentworth went on a seven-game winning streak would see the Leopard strikers outscore their opponents by a 28-2 margin and included five shutouts.  The streak would come to an end in the regular season finale at Colby-Sawyer and would seed Wentworth third in The Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament.

Wentworth’s first-round game was against New England College, a team that the Leopards had beaten with less than a second remaining in overtime in the regular season match-up.  A solid, two-way effort would propel the Leopards to a 3-0 win and a berth in the semifinal round.

Over the last 11 years, the Leopards and Roger Williams have had some outstanding battles on the pitch and this year would be no exception.  Wentworth won the regular season meeting by a 2-1 score, but the semifinal round battle would take place on the Hawks’ home field.  After 110 minutes, nothing was decided and the game was officially declared a 0-0 draw.  However, to determine advancement, the two teams engaged in a shootout.  In the final round, the Leopards converted their kick and won 3-2, advancing Wentworth to its first TCCC championship game since 2000.

In order to earn the program’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament, Wentworth would have to get past conference newcomer and perennial New England power Western New England.  The Golden Bears, the top seed in the tournament, scored two goals in the first eight minutes of the contest and prevailed, 3-0.

However, all was not lost, as for the second time in three seasons Wentworth was selected to play in the ECAC Tournament and would be the third seed.  In the final home game of the season and the final home game of his career, senior Chris Hartmann scored all three on the Leopards’ goals in a 3-0 win. 

In the semifinal round, Hartmann and his teammates defeated a tough Framingham State team, 2-1, to win their school record 15th win over the year and advance to the ECAC finals at Norwich.  Despite jumping out to a 1-0 lead, Wentworth could not stop the top-seeded Cadets in a 2-1 loss, ending the season with a 15-6-1 record and bringing the record over the last two seasons to an admirable 28-8-2.

Hartmann paced the Leopard offense by setting new seasonal standards for goals (16) and points (42) and posting the program's second-highest seasonal assist total (10). He ends his illustrious career with 90 points, coming on 33 goals and 24 assists.

Junior forward Kyle Nasman, a transfer from Northeastern, scored seven goals and added a pair of assists for 16 points, while his brother, Ben, a freshman, found the back of the net five times and helped on three goals for a 13-point season. Junior midfielder Geoff Hackett led the team with eight assists and also scored two goals.

On defense, seniors Joe Carroll and Kevin Neilan anchored a solid group of defenders that helped hold opponents to under a goal per game and held opponents scoreless in eight games.

Backboning the defensive group was senior netminder Joe Simon, who, in his first year with the Leopards, was 14-5-1 with a 0.89 goals against average and six shutouts.

Postseason honors were bestowed upon seven student-athletes.  Hartmann earned First Team All-TCCC honors, as well as being named Second Team All-New England.  Senior midfielder Ben Hamlin, Hackett and Kyle Nasman, Carroll, Neilan, and senior keeper Joe Simon were all named Honorable Mention All-TCCC.

News courtesy of Bill Gorman Associate AD and Sports Information Director.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK -- Wentworth Institute of Technology senior midfielder Chris Hartmann (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) had an impressive week for the leopards as they made a run at the ECAC Championship. Hartmann tallied a hat-trick scoring all three goals in a 3-0 victory against Southern Maine to open the tourney. He added two assists in a 2-1 win over Framingham St. in the quarterfinals, and also managed to notch a goal in the Championship match, a 2-1 loss to Norwich. For the week he finished with four goals and two assists, totaling 10 points.

News courtesy of Bill Gorman Associate AD and Sports Information Director.

For the third time in the program's history, the Wentworth men's soccer team has been selected to particpate in the ECAC Division III New England Men's Soccer Tournament. With a 13-5-1 record, the Leopards are the tournament's number three seed and will host sixth-seeded Southern Maine (10-8-1) Wednesday, with a game time set for 6:00 p.m. Other first-round matchups have eighth-seeded Becker traveling to top-seeded Norwich, seventh-seeded Colby-Sawyer traveling to second-seeded Framingham State, and fifth-seeded Coast Guard traveling to fourth-seeded Worcester State.

The championship game, scheduled for Sunday, November 11, will feature the semifinal winners at 1:00 pm at the home of the highest remaining seed.

2007 ECAC Division III New EnglandMen's Soccer Championship

Quarterfinal Round - Wednesday, November 7
#8 Becker at #1 Norwich 1 p.m.
#7 Colby Sawyer at #2 Framingham State 1p.m.
#6 Southern Maine at #3 Wentworth TBA
#5 Coast Guard at #4 Worcester State TBA 

Semifinal Round - Saturday, November 10
Winner of Norwich-Becker vs. Winner of Coast Guard-Worcester State TBA
Winner of Wentworth-Southern Maine vs. Winner of Framingham-Colby-Sawyer TBA

Championship Game - Sunday, November 11 at 1 pm.
Two Semifinal Winners at highest remaining seed

News courtesy of Bill Gorman Associate AD and Sports Information Director.

Western New England College has captured the top seed for The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) men’s soccer championship, which begins with quarterfinal matchups on campus sites Saturday.

In the program’s first year of competition in TCCC, the Golden Bears (12-5-2 overall) claimed the top seed in the conference tournament after posting a 10-2 record in conference play.

On Saturday, Western New England will host #8 seed University of New England (6-9-1 overall, 4-7-1 TCCC) at 2:00 p.m., in one of four quarterfinal matches. In addition, #2 Roger Williams (10-6-2, 9-1-2) will host #7 Curry (7-9-3, 5-4-3) at 11:00 a.m., #3 Wentworth (13-4, 9-3) will host #6 New England College (11-5-1, 8-3-1) at 1:00 p.m., and #4 Gordon (10-7-1, 8-3-1) will host #5 Colby-Sawyer (9-7-2, 8-3-1) at 1:00 p.m.

One three-way tie was applied in order to determine the seeding. Three teams -- Gordon, Colby-Sawyer and New England College -- concluded the regular-season with identical 8-3-1 conference records. Gordon claimed the #4 seed by virtue of wins over Colby-Sawyer and New England College, while Colby-Sawyer earned the #5 seed because of a victory over New England College. 

Quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinal round which will be played on Tuesday, October 30 at the sites of the higher seed. Matches are tentatively scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

Semifinal winners will square off for the conference championship on Saturday, November 3 at 1:00 p.m. at the site of the higher seed.

2007 TCCC MEN’S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Quarterfinals • Saturday, October 27
#8 Univ. of New England (6-9-1, 4-7-1) at #1 Western New England (12-5-2, 10-2), 2:00 p.m.
#7 Curry (7-9-3, 5-4-3) at #2 Roger Williams (10-6-2, 9-1-2), 11:00 a.m.
#6 New England College (11-5-1, 8-3-1) at #3 Wentworth (13-4, 9-3), 1:00 p.m.
#5 Colby-Sawyer (9-7-2, 8-3-1) at #4 Gordon (10-7-1, 8-3-1), 1:00 p.m.
Times Tentative

Semifinals • Tuesday, October 30
#1/8 winner vs. #4/5 winner, 1:00 p.m. (at higher seed)
#2/7 winner vs. #3/6 winner, 1:00 p.m.( at higher seed)

Championship Match • Saturday, November 3
Semifinal Winners, 1:00 p.m. (at higher seed)
Time Tentative

 News courtesy of Bill Gorman Associate AD and Sports Information Director.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 26, 2007) - Seven Wentworth Institute of Technology fall student-athletes have earned All-Commonwealth Coast Conference honors, as announced by the league this past weekend. In men's soccer senior midfielder Chris Hartmann (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) was named to the first team, while six other players were named to the third team. Junior midfielders Geoff Hackett, Ben Hamlin, Kyle Nasman, senior defenders Joe Carroll, Kevin Neilan and senior goalkeeper Joe Simon.

News courtesy of Bill Gorman Associate AD and Sports Information Director.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK -- After a 2-0 week in which he scored three goals and assisted on two others while his team went 2-0, senior midfielder Chris Hartmann (Hopwell Junction, N.Y.) was named The Commonwealth Coast Conference Men's Soccer Player of the Week.

News courtesy of Bill Gorman Associate AD and Sports Information Director.

Perhaps one of the greatest soccer players to don a Wentworth uniform, David Evans played four seasons for the Leopards and was one of the key reasons why Wentworth’s soccer program made a quick turnaround from a lower-tier program to an upper echelon program.  Evans arrived on the Wentworth campus in 1996, the year that Sweeney Field opened.  He immediately made his mark, scoring 13 goals and adding a pair of assists for 28 points to help the Leopards to a 12-6 record and the program’s first Commonwealth Coast Conference championship.  Five of his 13 goals were game-winning tallies, including notching the game winner in the CCC title game.  Evans returned as a sophomore in 1998, scoring 35 points (14 goals (seven game winners), seven assists)—the third-highest season point output in the program’s history and helped the team to its best start, 7-0-1 in its first eight games.  He was selected First Team All-CCC as the Leopards established a new school record for wins with 13.  Evans’ junior season would see him score 23 points as Wentworth advanced to the CCC title game for the first time since his rookie season.  Additionally, he was named the CCC Co-Player of the Year and was an All-New England selection that season.  An All-CCC selection during his senior campaign, he was named First Team All-CCC and, for the second season in a row, All-New England after tallying 20 points for a Leopard team that established a new record for wins, going 14-4-1 and earning the program’s first-ever berth in the ECAC Division III New England Tournament.

Evans is the men’s soccer team’s all-time leading scorer, tallying 42 goals and 22 assists for 106 points in 75 career games.  He also holds the career mark for game-winning goals with 16.  Evans, who served as an assistant coach for the Leopards for three seasons, has continued to play soccer competitively since he left Wentworth, being involved in the United States Amateur Soccer Association and the Premier Arena Soccer League, winning national championships in both of those leagues.  He was also a four-year starter for the New Hampshire Phantoms.  A native of Madison, Conn., he graduated from Wentworth with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering Technology in 2004 and is an assistant supervisor with Bond Brothers Construction.  He and his wife Gaia reside in Marshfield, Mass.

News courtesy of Bill Gorman Associate AD and Sports Information Director.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK -- Wentworth Institute of Technology freshman forward Jeff Dube (Kennebunk, Maine) played a key role in the Leopards two victories this week , assisting on both game winning goals. The first coming in the 78th minute to defeat MIT, the second assist came in a thrilling 3-2 double overtime victory over NEC with just .8 seconds left on the clock.

 News courtesy of Bill Gorman Associate AD and Sports Information Director.

 News courtesy of Bill Gorman Associate AD and Sports Information Director.