News Release

Hartmann Sets Single-Season Point Record As Leopards Advance to ECAC Finals

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. � Senior midfielder Chris Hartmann (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) assisted on both Wentworth Institute of Technology goals to set a new seasonal mark for points (40) as the third-seeded Leopards defeated second-seeded Framingham State, 2-1, to advance to their first-ever ECAC tournament final.

Wentworth took advantage of a defensive miscue by the Rams in the 12th minute of play to take a 1-0 lead off perfectly placed shot to the top right corner of the net by junior forward Kyle Nasman (Lenox, Mass.) on a feed from Hartmann.�Hartmann�s assist was the 23rd of his career, which places him alone atop the career assist list.�The Leopards had a chance to extend their lead a few minutes later as they were awarded a penalty kick after a Ram foul in the box.�Framingham State senior goalkeeper Eddie Palomba (Saugus, Mass.) made a diving save on the PK offering by Hartman to keep the Rams within one goal.

The Rams picked up their offensive intensity and outshot the Leopards in the first half 10-5, but could not get anything past Leopard senior netminder Joe Simon (Pittsfield, Mass.), who made five first half saves and finished the day with seven stops.�The second half was more of the same for the Rams as they took 15 shots to the Leopards six.

The score would remain 1-0 in favor of the visitors until the 81st minute of play when Hartman was able to break thru the Rams� defense and slid a cross past Palomba, who had come out of the net on the breakaway, to freshman forward Jeff Dub� (Kennebunk, Maine), who was able to knock the ball in before a sliding Ram defender could recover and knock it away.

Framingham State would respond a minute later and cut the deficit back to one goal.�Freshman Scott Faria (Fall River, Mass.) launched a corner into the box that was knocked around before junior Stephen Rosenthal (Stoneham, Mass.) was able to knock it past Simon for his second goal of the season.�That was as close as the Rams would get as Wentworth was able to hold off their late offensive push and preserve the one goal win.

With the win Wentworth improves to 15-5-1, establishing a new record for wins in a season.�The Leopards will travel to top-seeded Norwich (18-3-1) tomorrow at 1:00 p.m., to decide the 2007 ECAC Division III Men�s Soccer Champion.�Framingham State ends its season with a 14-5-1 record.

Submitted 2007-11-10 13:17:54 by Wentworth Institute of Technology Sports Information Department

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