FARMINGTON- The University of Maine at Farmington’s mens’ soccer team is headed to Utica, New York to face off against SUNY Polytechnic in the North Atlantic Conference Championship Game. The Beavers, who were crowned the East Division Champions last week, will take on the host school Nov. 6.
The championship appearance is the first in program history. UMF captain and All-NAC selection Jonah Sautter believes the group’s hard work and determination has pushed the group to the championship.
“Obviously every year making a run at the championship is at the top of the list, but we’ve just struggled making that next step in the playoffs in the past. This year we’ve been playing some of our best soccer right at the right time. This group of guys is so resilient and adopts a ‘don’t quit’ mentality that is awesome to watch from a goalkeeper perspective. Lots of teams view us as the underdog but we all are confident that we are the best team in the conference, and Saturday is our chance to prove it,” Sautter said.
The winner of the championship game will receive an automatic qualification to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division III Championship Tournament.
Traditional NAC championship brackets did not feature the West and East Divisions. The change to divisional titles comes as several new teams joined the conference, including SUNY Poly. This is the soccer championships inaugural season in this bracket.
In the East Divisional Championship bracket, the Beavers went into the tournament as the third seed behind Husson University and Thomas College with an overall record of 3-2 against East opponents. The squad headed to Husson to face off against the Thomas Terriers on Oct. 30 in the East Division Semifinal. The Beavers notched a 3-1 victory, avenging the 2-0 loss to Thomas Oct. 23. Cade McHugh netted the first goal 20 minutes into the match, with Thomas scoring shortly after- tying up the game. Yusuf Mohamed and Gracien Mukwa broke the deadlock with a pair of goals to secure the victory. The postseason victory was long overdue, with the last victory coming during the 2015 season.
In the East Divisional Championship game, the Beavers defeated the host school 1-0. The thriller’s lone goal is attributed to Junior Cade McHugh, who scored in the 69th minute of action. Captain Christian Beliveau was credited with the assist with a cross over to McHugh. The Beavers were outshot 11-10 in the match, with UMF goalkeeper Jonah Sautter recording three saves in the shutout victory.
The victory marked the first time UMF has defeated Husson since the 2015 season, and improved the team’s record to 11-4-1.
In the West Bracket, SUNY Poly entered the tournament as the first seed with a perfect 5-0 record against NAC West opponents. In the opening tournament game, SUNY Poly took down SUNY Cobleskill 4-0. SUNY Poly started strong, with Edgar Gomez, Matthew McCord and Aboubacar Camara notching three first half goals.
In the championship game, SUNY Poly defeated Cazenovia in a double overtime thriller, edging Cazenovia 4-3.
