Special Articles: AFC Championship Game  , Rookie of the Week-Cherry

Eastern Nazarene's Drops Season Finale with Colby-Sawyer, 2-0.

October 29, 2008.  Quincy, Mass.  Single goals in the first and second halves close Eastern Nazarene's season with a 2-0 loss.  On Senior Night, the Crusaders played very well, controlling large portions of play in the midfield, but could not find the final pass leading to goal.  "Colby-Sawyer did a good job of flooding the space we were trying to enter.  We could not counter fast enough, nor be patient enough to explore for more holes to attack.", said Eastern Nazarene Coach Tom Newell.  

Injuries to two Crusader defenders in the opening of the second half, captain Senior Matt Woodley (Setauket, NY) and his sub Steven Johnston (West Haven, Conn.), prompted a different formation.  This compensation led to more space in the back for the Chargers to counter attack and find their second goal in the 61st minute.  A far post cross led to the opportunity where normal coverage might have sufficed but the far post runner reached the ball first to finish cleanly. 

Jonathan Corbin (Fallston, MD) exploited the Chargers in the first half with good individual play, providing quality dribbling and passes in the final third.  Graduating brother Jordon Corbin (Fallston, MD) controlled the direction of play, contributing to possession heavily.  The Crusaders did well building out of the back being directed by captain Senior Rob Rossi (Coventry, RI) getting to the point of distribution into the final third.  However, the flooded areas of space with defenders disrupted the continuity of the ENC attack, preventing the opportunity for the final pass or approach to goal.  Coach Newell stated, "Give Colby-Sawyer credit for getting numbers back and having organization, they have been a difficult team to score on all season and it gives them a chance to win.  They could surprise teams in the playoffs." 

Coach Newell admits, "Sometimes games are won in single moments rather than the accumulation and quality of play."  Which describes how it has been in a few losses this year for the Crusaders.  The Crusaders have had good portions of possession but allowed a goal on a corner or set piece.  Coach Newell concludes, "We have achieved  an important quality of the game before achieving the desired result.  Some never quite achieve the first and are just good at the second.  We managed the first this year, and I believe the second will come for us soon!"     

Shutout and First Half Propel Eastern Nazarene's 3-0 Victory Over Regis.

October 25, 2008.  Quincy, Mass.  A stingy defense aided by three first half goals gave the Crusaders their 3rd win of the season in the TCCC and overall. 

In a physical game the visitors (ENC) held the majority of possession and created quality opportunities on goal.  The first opportunity capitalized on was in the 15th minute when a Jonanthan Corbin (Fallston, MD) cross to the back post was met by midfielder Jeremy Stanford (S. Weymouth, Mass.) ran onto heading back across the goal mouth to the open net.  The Crusaders added a second goal in the 36th minute as Dan Bemis (Alton Bay, N.H.) beat his defender around the flank to the end line and slotted the ball back twelve yards out from the near post where Freddy Perez (Randolph, Mass.) was running and one timed the pass to the upper near post.

The games scoring was capped just three minutes later on a great individual effort from captain Andy Gardner (Braintree, Mass.) turned on his defender at the top left corner of the penalty box, cut the ball square across the top of the box and rocketed a right footed shot that smacked across the upper 90 of the far post and into the goal to make it 3-0 going into the break.

The Crusader continued to control the play in the second half, holding the Pride to just three second half shots.  "A good offense can be as good as a strong defense", commented Coach Newell, as he referred to the Crusaders ball possession today.  Newell revealed, "The team has worked very hard and grown into a team playing QUALITY soccer, not just kick and run harder than the next guy.  I hope American fans can begin to see, understand and appreciate the difference."  Continuing, "We have not won many games getting to this point, but the tide is turning for this program and will come onto the scene suddenly in the near future."

You can not disagree when the program has produced four shutouts this year, more than it has in the last three years, and up to this point allowed 29 fewer goals than last year.  On top of this it appears the goal production has turned from strictly taking advantage of opponent mistakes to one of goal creation, which was witnessed today.

Eastern Nazarene closes out the regular season next Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 when they host Colby-Sawyer at Quincy's Veteran Memorial Stadium at 7:00 pm.

Eastern Nazarene Rises Over Anna Maria, 4-2.

October 21, 2008.  Quincy, Mass.  Goals by four different players keyed the Crusaders second win of the year over the AMCats of Anna Maria.  Falling behind 1-0 in the 26th minute, it took six minutes later for Eastern Nazarene to open their own scoring.  The Crusaders did so by responding with four unanswered goals over the next 45 minutes to secure the victory.  Corey Knudsen (W. Wareham, Mass.) notched the home teams first goal in the 32nd minute to tie the game at 1-1, as he crashed one of the four Crusader corner kicks, heading the ball into the net.  Five minutes later Crusaders Matt Woodley (Setauket, N.Y.) would win the ball in the middle of the field begin a sequence of ten passes before he would receive the final pass on top of the AMCats penalty box and finish to the top right corner of the goal giving the Crusaders a 2-1 lead.

In the 58th minute the Anna Maria keeper punted a ball into the back of Eastern Nazarene's Andy Gardner (Braintree, Mass.) and gathering the ball, Freddy Perez (Randolph, Mass.) played it immediately to goal where Chris Scearbo (Georgetown, Mass.) won possession over an Anna Maria defender and finished to an empty net to make the score 3-1, and what was the game winner.  Then in the 73rd minute Jordan Corbin (Fallston, MD) penetrated on the dribble to the top of the AMCats penalty area and dished the ball to Dan Bemis (Alton Bay, N.H.) who first timed a shot to far post for the Crusaders fourth and final goal to make the score 4-1.

Anna Maria tried to get back into the game but could not get their second goal until the 87th minute, to make the final score 4-2.

In what was a close game, ENC held the advantage in shots 20-17 and shots on goal 7-6 while AMC held the advantage on corner kicks 6-4.

Eastern Nazarene improves their record to 2-12-2 / 2-9 TCCC and travels to Regis College on Saturday October 25th for their next TCCC game of the year.

Eastern Nazarene struck by Nichols for 4-0 loss.

October 18, 2008.  Quincy, Mass.  The potent Bison of Nichols College scored 2 goals in each half within 7 to press on for their 7th win of the season.  In what started out as an evenly played match, the Bison struck suddenly in the 24th minute making it 1-0.  Four minutes later the Bison jumped on a lose ball in the Crusader penalty box and finished a shot to the far post, stealing the games momentum at the same time.

The second half started out similarly, as the Crusaders net was found again just six minutes into the second stanza to make it 3-0.  Then a through ball to an open man for the Bison put him in on goal for a 1 v 1 with the Crusader keeper, finishing cleanly to far post, made it 4-0.  

The Crusaders threatened on several occasions during the entire contest, out shooting the Bison, 19-15, but near misses and goalposts prevented them from drawing the game back to within reach.  Freshman Chris Scearbo (Georgetown, Mass.) and Jonathan Corbin (Fallston, MD) led the Crusaders with 5 shots a piece while keeper Andrew Trice (Quincy, Mass.) came up with 6 saves.

Eastern Nazarene (1-12-2 / 1-9) hosts Anna Maria College next Tuesday in Quincy's Veterans Memorial Stadium at 4:30 pm.

Crusaders duel with Buccaneer's ends in 0-0 draw.

October 14th, 2008.  Quincy, Mass.  The Crusaders and Buccaneers played through
110 scoreless minutes at Eastern Nazarene's Bradley Field today.  Eastern
Nazarene produced one of their most dominating performances of the year as they
strung together passes to control the game for large portions of time.

Andrew Gardner (Braintree, Mass.), Jonathan Corbin (Fallston, MD) and Matt
Woodley (Setauket, NY) led the home team with three shots each.  Crusader
goalkeeper Chris Cherry (Brockton, Mass.) managed to earn his second shutout of
the season as he made 9 saves while the team betters their record to 1-11-2.

The Crusaders were caught offside six times and out shot the Buccaneers 15-12
while earning 10 corner kicks to the visitors 7 corners.

Eastern Nazarene hosts Nichols College at 2:30 pm on Saturday, October 18th for
the Crusaders Homecoming.
 

Eastern Nazarene continues slide in 3-0 loss.

October 7, 2008.  Quincy, Mass.  Curry goals in the 28th and 36th minute gave the visiting Colonels a two goal lead they would not relinquish.  A long corner kick, escaping the reach of Eastern Nazarene keeper, was met by a Colonel player who headed it back across the box and into the open goal for a 1-0 lead.   A bit of unluck led to the second goal as a loose ball in the six yard box could not be cleared after several chances and found itself at the feet of the visiting team who cleanly finished from six yards out.

After the half, Eastern Nazarene picked up the intensity but could not capitalize as the Colonels defense turned away the Crusaders and then added an insurance goal from another loose ball  to make the score 3-0.  Curry out shot Eastern Nazarene 29-8 and earned five more corners than the home team, 7-2. 

Eastern Nazarene (1-10-1, 1-6) travels to Gordon College on the same day with a 2:30 pm kickoff.

Eastern Nazarene drops result in final minute, fall 1-0.

September 23rd, 2008.  Quincy, Mass.  A through ball in the last minute of play unlocked the deadlock between the two The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) teams as the visiting Gulls went on to earn Endicott their second win of the season.

In a game in which the two teams battled for possession, the Crusader defenders kept the Gulls long driven balls into the box from finding their target.  The Crusaders defended feverishly in the second half to maintain the scoreless draw.  Endicott tried to serve their big forwards upfront in the box, but 6'5" Crusader keeper Andrew Trice (Quincy, Mass.) was able to thwart nearly every one.  Trice faced 21 shots on the night, making 7 saves. 

Eastern Nazarene falls to 1-6-1 (1-3 TCCC) and continues TCCC play Saturday, September 27th when they travel to WNEC for an 11:00 am kick off. 

Eastern Nazarene upended by Salve Regina, 5-0.

September 20th, 2008.  Quincy, Mass.  The Seahawks jumped on top of a loose ball  in front of the Crusaders goal in the 6th minute and finished what would be the game winner.  From the first few minutes the hard attacking Seahawk squad set the pace and did not relent, applying pressure on the home team.  Twenty three minutes later they capitalized from a rebound to make it 2-0.  Then the score went to 3-0 when a near post cross was slotted home in the 37th minute. 

No relief was found in the second half as the Seahawks continued to control the game and poked two more in to win comfortably, 5-0. 

The Crusaders fell to 1-5-1 as the Seahawks rise to 2-4.  Eastern Nazarene only mustard 3 shots to the 24 Seahawk attempts.  Eastern Nazarne has two days before they host Endicott College on Tuesday, September 23rd at 4:30 pm in Veterans Stadium. 

-ENC Athletics

ENC earns 1-0 win over UNE in TCCC action for conclusion of 3-game week.

September 13th, 2008.  Quincy, Mass.  Freshman Mike Magnuson’s (Pepperell, Mass.) hard cross into the box deflected off a defender and past the Nor’easters goalie in the 31^st minute of the game to give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead.  Magnuson’s first goal of the year would end up being the game winner and give the Crusaders their first win of the year, and first The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) win of the year, as they held off the pressing Nor’easters in the second half.

While the University of New England (1-2) held the advantage in shots, 19-5, Eastern Nazarene (1-4-1) prevented those shots from being of quality with their solid defensive pressure.  Crusader goalkeeper Andrew Trice (Quincy, Mass.) kept a clean sheet today earning his first shut of the season as he was called upon four times to make a save.  Only twice were there quality chances for the Nor’easters, but each time Trice squelched the shots.  The first was a low shot along the ground to the far post which Trice went down on to cover, and the second was a shot from distance to the upper 90 of the near post that he got his gloves to parry over the crossbar. 

Defenders Robert Rossi (Coventry, RI) and Joseph Meserve (Pottsdam, NY) held the defense together for a full 90 minutes helping the team to its’ second shut out of the season.  Earlier in the week on Tuesday, the Crusaders held conference contender Roger Williams to 85 scoreless minutes before a misplayed ball would slip into goal.  Then on Thursday, three defensive miscues led to a 4-1 loss to non-conference neighbor UMass-Boston.

Eastern Nazarene has a week of recovery before they continue in TCCC play when they host Salve Regina University on Saturday, September 20^th at Quincy’s Veteran Stadium at 2:00 pm.

Crusaders provide opportunity for Beacons light to shine.

Quincy, Mass.  September 11, 2008.  Eastern Nazarene opened the door to UMass-Boston today as lapses of play allowed clean opportunities for the visitors to finish.  Besides each team scoring from a deflection, the Beacons found themselves with two 1 v 1's on Crusader GK Andrew Trice (Quincy, Mass.) in which he was unable to save.  And an additional goal came from no clearance off one of the six Beacon corner kicks that were awarded.

Down 3-0 at the 56th minute, the Crusaders did put together a strong 20 minute block of possession and pressure in which they pulled one back on top of other opportunities.  Freshman Corey Knudsen (W.Wareham, Mass.) scored his second goal of the season as his shot from 20 yards out deflected off of a Beacon defender and went by the visitor's keeper in the 64th minute.

However, it was the Beacons who controlled the day as they out shot the Crusaders 28-6 and held the corners advantage 6-2.  Eastern Nazarene pulls themselves together on Saturday for their first home conference (The Commonwealth Coast Conference) game as they host University of New England at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy, Mass. at 1:00 pm.

Hawks Slide By Crusaders, 1-0.

BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men’s Soccer team edged out a close game in The Commonwealth Coast Conference opener, as the Hawks defeated Eastern Nazarene College Tuesday afternoon.

An early rainstorm combined with intermittent drizzle made for wet playing conditions with both teams having some difficulty with gaining solid footing. Despite the slippery field, the game featured aggressive play on both sides, with the Hawks and Crusaders combining for 42 fouls.

RWU won the battle over time of possession, as the Hawks maintained control of the ball throughout much of the game. In the first half, the RWU offense managed to put up 13 shots. However, the Hawks did not score on any of the attempts, mainly due to a combination of defense and near misses. Eastern Nazarene’s sophomore goalie Andrew Trice (Quincy, Mass.) tallied five saves in the period, while a few of the shots that he did not get a hand on sailed just over the goal.

In the second half, the Hawks were able to keep the offensive pressure on the Crusader defense with more accurate shots. Yet Trice stepped up to the challenge with a series of crucial saves to keep the game at a scoreless stalemate. Trice managed to make eight saves in the half to help keep the Crusaders in the game.

The game looked to be heading into overtime when the Hawks were fouled and given a free kick in the 84 minute just 10 yards from the midfield line and 10 yards from the sideline.  The free kick was launched and sailed past the crowd of Hawks and Crusader players in the box finding its way just inside the far post to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.

Trice made a season-high 13 saves in the game.

Eastern Nazarene (0-3-1) will host UMass-Boston Thursday at 4:00 p.m.

Late-game Goal-line block preserves 2-1 win over Crusaders.

September 6th, 2008.  Quincy, Mass.  Down by a goal in the 87th minute, a corner kick to the far side was met by freshman Corey Knudsen (W. Wareham, Mass.) whose one time shot would have tied the game if not for the Ram standing in the way on the goal line.  The deflection went back out to the other side of the penalty box where captain Andrew Gardner (Braintree, Mass.) struck it cleanly to the near post to find side netting, only that is was wide of the goalpost.

Suffolk took the lead in the 57th minute as they combined to put an attacker through the Crusader defense and in on goal to finish, making the score 1-0.  The game settled down over the next twenty minutes with each side having a share of possession, but at the 76th the visitors struck again.  A kick into the box not intended for anyone was found by a hustling Ram winger who beat the defenders and on rushing keeper to the ball, pushing the ball past the keeper to finish on an open goal making the score 2-0.

The following minutes saw the Crusaders take strong possession of the game and go at the Rams until the final seconds.  In the 81st minute captain Matt Woodley (Setauket, NY) sprung Knudsen through on the left side of the penalty area where the freshman laid out a 20 yard shot to far post, bringing the Crusaders back to within one at 2-1.  The continued Crusader pressure and service into the box would not hit its mark and the visitors would hold on for the win.

Eastern Nazarene goes to 0-2-1 and plays their first The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) game of the season on Tuesday, Sept. 9th down at Roger Williams at 4:00 pm. 

-ENC Athletics

Eastern Nazarene drops non-conference match, 3-1.

September 3rd, 2008.  Boston, Mass.  Battling back from a 1-0 deficit, Eastern Nazarene concedes game winning goal in the 78th minute and concedes first loss of the season.

After the Lions first half goal the Crusaders kept fighting and then in the second struck.  A foul at the top of the opponents box set up the goal.  ENC co-captain Matt Woodley (Setauket, NY) sent a bending ball around the wall of Lion players on the direct kick to notch the game at 1-1 for in the 52nd minute. 

The Crusaders continued to press the Lions for heavy portions of the next 25 minutes.  But a foul 40 yards from the Crusaders goal, provided the Lions with a direct kick that they capitalized on.  A ball served into the left side of the penalty box met an on rushing Lions player who headed the ball back across the goal, over the head of Crusader keeper Chris Cherry (Brockton, Mass.), just inside the far post.  The goal sparked the Lions ball possession and six minutes the Lions shot from 30 yards out and the ball trailed left just outside of Cherry's reach for goal number three.

Emerson held the shot advantage, 18-13, on the night as the two teams mirrored one another in the foul and corner category with 15 and 2 respectively.

Eastern Nazarene falls to 0-1-1 and faces Suffolk University for another non-conference match up on Saturday at 5:00 pm at Bradley Field. 

September 2nd, 2008.  Boston, Mass.  Cherry earns Rookie of the Week in The Commonwealth Coast Conference. 

Eastern Nazarene College freshman goalkeeper Christopher Cherry (Brockton, Mass.) had an outstanding game in net for the Crusaders making 13 saves in a double overtime 0-0 tie with Mount Ida.  Cherry preserved the result for his team with a crucial save in the second overtime period.

August 30, 2008. Newton, Mass.  Eastern Nazarene goes to double overtime in season opener with Mount Ida and draws nil-nil (0-0).

While the shot count favored the Mustangs, 38-11, the contest saw each team miss their chances in front of goal.  In the first half, Crusader FR Chris Scearbo (Georgetown, Mass.) was denied by the post from 10 yards out on a break away. The Mustangs offense settled for long range shots and service, as they were denied penetration for the most part.   

In overtime, each team had one splendid opportunity but each was thwarted.  The Crusaders SR Jeremy Stanford (S. Weymouth, Mass.) was able to turn the corner and get in on the end line to slot a pass to the penalty spot for teammate SR Matt Woodley (Setauket, NY).  However, a clip from behind on Woodley's shooting foot by a recovering Mustang was enough to prevent the wide open shot from getting off.  Then a Mustangs forward received a pass in the Crusaders penalty area, slipped by one defender leaving just the keeper to beat, but Crusaders FR/GK Chris Cherry (Brockton, Mass.) got off his line quickly, got big and stopped the point blank shot by laying out.

For the Crusaders, this tie snaps a four game losing streak to the Mustangs and a four year losing streak in season openers.  The team was pleased with the result but they will be looking to finish their opportunities in front of goal next time.  Coach Newell commented, "The guys played their hearts out and concentrated on working together, and it paid off.  Although we did not steal an away win, we walked away with a point." 

ENC hosts Emerson on Wednesday 9/3/08 on Bradley Field at 4:00 pm. 

Off the field puts them on the field....

January 23rd, 2008.  Quincy, Mass.  So why was the ENC Men's and Women's Soccer Team on the field celebrating with the Patriots on their AFC Championship victory over the San Diego Chargers?  No one had pulled a string to have us there.  There was no "connection" involved.  No television station had run a contest that we had won.  No ones father is a close friend or business partner of the Kraft family.  Here is why...It was a combination of being willing to work for what we wanted and a little bit of luck.  That is what linebacker Junior Seau referred to following the game, "you work hard, you persevere and pray that you have a chance."  In a small kind of way, our chance had come.

The Crusader Men's and Women's Programs have set goals each year to fundraise money for special team needs and this season a trip down to Gillette Stadium gave them an opportunity for that.  The forecast was unfavorable, the wind chill factor was to push the temperature into the single digits.  With the expectation of ushering, scanning tickets, doing pat-downs and assisting in stadium policy enforcement (security) for 60,000+ people, most of it would be a thankless job to earn a few bucks.

But upon check in, the management handed us these pink hospital wrist tags to put on, for what reason we did not know.  But 30 minutes later when they brought us together for our assignment, it was disclosed the bearers of the pink wrist tags were selected to literally hold the line immediately after the game.  This line existed to separate the trophy ceremony staging area from the ensuing media frenzy following the game.

So we went about the business of the day through the first three quarters of the game before we regrouped in the fourth quarter to get further instructions.  We aligned ourselves minutes prior to the end of the game in a staging area just behind the end zone so that as the final second ticked off the clock, the group immediately rushed out in formation to the 35 yard line to provide security for the presentation of the AFC Championship Lamar Hunt Trophy.

With the players of the two teams shaking hands and having conversations on the 50 yard line, the slow tide of Patriot players (Bruschi, Brady, Seau, Seymour, Hobbs, Watson and others), team personnel and NFL and CBS media and their executives trickled past us as the confetti flew on us and over the whole field.  Fireworks exploded outside the stadium in the sky as 60,000+ fans looked on and we did our job while watching what was going on around us from the Gillette Stadium Jumbo-tron. 

In all honesty, we were the fly's on the wall that day as all the excitement just moved around and by us, but it was the best seat anyone could want to experience the game.  The demands were not that great, we had to arrive on time and work diligently through the game doing other duties.   It did not cost us a dime, matter of a fact, they paid us to be there. 

A comment about the experience by one of the Crusader players summed it up nicely, "Those who were not here have no idea what they missed.  This is so amazing!", as the confetti landed on and all around us, fireworks exploding in the sky and the Gillette Stadium fans screamed and cheered at the top of their lungs.  I imagine that even if telling the story of how it went down sounded exciting to someone, they still would not have the full idea of how exciting it was.  Some probably were grateful for being at home, or even having a ticket to the game to sit in the stands, but from our perspective, ours was the most desirable view to watch the game.  The temperature and all the hard work were a long forgotten memory at that point.  

One might think you would have to be an influential politician, a wealthy friend or business partner with the Kraft family to be there.  But on this day, the only thing needed was to be a part of a common vision in the Crusader Soccer Programs.

It is more than just playing the game, it is about being available to live life together, while along the way, opportunities arise at unsuspecting moments, that you never forget and somehow, they change you.  Most of the time we look to on the field moments in the game of soccer to provide opportunities for this.  Not in this case, it was the fact that we were a team off the field the opportunity came and perhaps one day can say it was a part of changing us.

By God's Grace we will be changed.