Merry Christmas, Garnet Advance to ECAC Championship

SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Senior captain Pat Christmas vaulted the top-seeded Garnet men's soccer into the championship match of the 2007 ECAC Division III Southern Region Tournament by scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 Swarthmore win over Westminster Saturday afternoon at gloomy Clothier Field.Swarthmore (13-3-3) will face the No.8-seed, Frostburg State a 2-1 winner over Penn State-Altoona in overtime on the second semifinal. The championship match is set for 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 11. It is the second ECAC Southern Championship match appearance for Swarthmore—the Garnet fell 3-1 to Wesley (DE) in 2004.

The 13 wins are the most by a Garnet squad in 16 years--the 1991 squad went 14-4 and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Westminster concludes the 2007 season with an overall record of 11-7-3.

Swarthmore pressed in the offensive side of the field in the first half, out-shooting the visitors 10-4. Tartan goalkeeper Mike Codita (Sewickley, Pa. / Quaker Valley) kept the game scoreless with a couple of nice saves.

Christmas scored the first Swarthmore goal off a Garnet free kick in the 49th minute. Swarthmore junior defender Rory Stackpole (Sanford, Maine / Sanford) sent the free kick to the right side of the Tartan net. The ball deflected out off a group of players and landed at the feet of Christmas, who turned and tucked the shot into the back right corner for his second goal of the season.

The Garnet missed a great chance in the 73rd minute as junior Evan Nesterak (Parker, Colo. / Ponderosa) made a great feed to streaking senior midfielder Andrew Macurdy (Lumberton, N.J. / Rancocas Valley). Macurdy aimed for the low left corner but the ball hammered off the far post.

The game remained physical throughout with five yellow cards issued and 38 fouls whistled.

Swarthmore goalkeeper Ryan Sutcliffe (Medford, Del. / Medford) posted two stops between the pipes for his seventh shut out of the season; Codita ended up with eight saves for the Tartans.

BOX SCORE

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