Men's Soccer Ranked Ninth in New England

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Coming off a tournament championship at the Roger Williams University Turfer Classic, the Bridgewater State College men's soccer team is ranked ninth in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) New England Division III Coaches Poll.

Sophomore forward Donald Flores (Cranston, RI) and senior goaltender Ryan Seifert (Ludlow, MA) earned offensive and defensive Most Valuable Players honors respectively at the tournament as the Bears defeated Merchant Marine Academy, 2-1, in the semifinals and then knocked off host Roger Williams, 2-0, in the championship game.

Last season, the Bears posted a record of 8-10-1 and were seeded fourth in the MASCAC Tournament.  BSC upset top-seeded Framingham State, 2-0, in the tournament semifinals and then knocked off third-seeded Salem State, 2-0, to capture the tournament title and earn a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Under the direction of Head Coach Brendan Adams, the BSC men's soccer team has made two appearances in the national tournament in the last four years. The Bears also advanced in 2004.

Captaining the squad this season are senior defender Jon Machado (Weymouth, MA), senior forward Jon Nutting (Rockland, MA) and junior midfielder Matt Daniels (South Easton, MA). Nutting and Machado finished one-two in scoring last season as they finished with 13 points and 11 points respectively. Machado, who was the only player on the team last season to start all 21 games, was selected to the All-MASCAC First Team in 2007.  Nutting and Flores were Second Team selections.

Seifert played in ten games and made nine starts in goal for the Bears in 2007.  He posted a record of 4-4-2 with 70 saves and a solid 1.58 goals against average.