Men's Soccer Falls to Salem, 3-1, in MASCAC Semifinals

SALEM, Mass. -- Eryk Fernandez (Nipomo. Calif.) scored two goals to lead top-seeded Salem State to a 3-1 victory over the Bears of Bridgewater State University to advance to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Championship for the fourth straight year.

Salem State will play No. 3 seed Westfield State, which defeated second seed Framingham State in penalty kicks, for an automatic NCAA berth on Sunday at Alumni Field at 1:00 PM. The Vikings improve to 11-6-1 on the year, while Bridgewater State slips to 9-9-1.  The Bears will await word on a potential ECAC Tournament bid.

Bridgewater State almost took an early 1-0 lead when Simao Mendes (Brockton, Mass.) rifled a shot that was nearly deflected into the Salem State goal, but the Vikings' Scott Hall (Waltham, Mass.) made a leaping fingertip save to preserve the 0-0 tie.

Gaining momentum Salem State finally delivered at the 15:34 mark, when Saimir Zepaj (Peabody, Mass.) knocked in Fernandez's pass into the back right corner for a 1-0 lead. Later Carlos Escobar (Malden, MA) set up Fernandez with a perfect pass that Fernandez headed past Bridgewater goalie Matt Bagley (Braintree, Mass.) that put the Vikings up 2-0 at the half.

Bridgewater State got on the board in the 53rd minute after an own-goal by a Salem State player who accidently headed the ball past the goalie.  The Bears almost tied the game less than two minutes later on a corner kick, but the goal was disallowed because a Bridgewater State player was ruled offsides.  Fernandez then gave the Vikings some breathing room when he scored his second goal off a pass from Dimitri Flessas (Salem, Mass.) in the 60th minute to make the score 3-1.

The Vikings' Hall had four impressive saves while the Bears' Bagley also made four stops. Shots were tied at nine apiece, while both teams took two corners.

Salem State lost to Framingham State 2-0 in last year's MASCAC championship game.