Bears capture MASCAC Tournament and advance to NCAA playoffs

The No. 4 seed Bridgewater State College Bears received an outstanding goalkeeping performance from senior Drew Pontbriand (Fairhaven) en route to capturing the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) postseason tournament title with a 2-0 victory over the Vikings this afternoon at Alumni Field.

The win earns the Bears an automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Division 3 Tournament scheduled to begin this week. Pairings, game sites and game times will be announced Monday.

Pontbriand made five first half saves and four second half stops en route to posting his second shutout of the season. In addition to recording nine saves, Pontbriand was also effective in punching away any scoring attempts the Vikings crossed into the box from either flank and both corners. The Bears (8-10-2) scored their first goal off a corner kick at 16:50 of the opening half. Sophomore midfielder Anthony Bourget (East Longmeadow) converted freshman forward Donald Flores' attempt from the right corner. Bourget knocked the ball past junior goalkeeper Pawel Brzykcy (Krakow Poland), who finshed the match with just two saves, at the near post from five yards out.

The No. 3 seed Vikings (12-7-1) nearly tied the match with 10:40 to go in the first half, only to watch junior forward Jared Barbosa's drive from 35 yards out sail off the crossbar. Junior forward Jon Nutting (Rockland) registered what would turn out to be an insurance goal for the Bears when he headed home a restart at 65:56 that junior defender Jon Machado (Weymouth) hit from 75 yards away.

Despite outshooting the Bears, 17-7, and holding a 10-3 advantage in corner kicks, the Vikings could not crack the Bridgewater defense. Machado prevented an SSC goal late in the second half when he stood on the goal-line and blocked a shot behind the fallen Pontbriand.