Men's Soccer captures CACC title

*Story courtesy of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference

WATERBURY, CONN – Tournament Most Valuable PlayerTevin Blake (Savannah la Mar, Jamaica) scored the game-winning goal in the 87^th minute to lead sixth-seeded Bloomfield College to a 3-2 win over No. 4 seed Chestnut Hill College in the title game of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Soccer Championship Saturday at LaMoy Field. The Bears captured their first conference championship in the school's history since joining the NCAA Division II in 2002. The historic upset victory improved Bloomfield to 11-6-2 on the season, while the Griffins are now 8-7-3 overall.

The championship match opened with two quick goals from the Bears within the first ten minutes of play that stunned the Griffins who made their first appearance in the tournament final. Hugues Doyoun (Port-au-Prince, Haiti) crossed a ball to junior forward Rafique Roberts (Portmore Jamaica) that he scored in the 7^th minute for his second goal of the year. A corner kick from junior Paulo Claudio (San Paulo, Brazil) at 7:45 found the back of the net off of classmate Kareem Kennedy (Colon, Panama) and staked the Bears to an early 2-0 lead. Chestnut Hill stabilized themselves and regained a goal on a header from junior midfielder Nils Fussen (Aachen, Germany) at 13:02 as the teams battled thru the rest of the first half.

The Griffins tied the game in the 62^nd minute when Nicholas Jaffe (Sao Paolo, Brazil) scored his 14^th goal of the season on a penalty kick. Bloomfield goalie Wilson Cisneros (Bronx, N.Y.) was powerless against the quick penalty strike of Jaffe as it tickled the upper left corner of the net and locked the teams at 2-2.

Chestnut Hill, who knocked off CACC Tournament top-seeded, Wilmington University Thursday in overtime, seemed prepared for an extra period as the clock ticked down inside of four minutes with the tie intact. Blake and the Bears had other plans as the midfielder dribbled past a defender in the box and blasted a shot that deflected off Griffins keeper, James Jackson (Sewell, N.J.) and into the open goal at 86:08.

Cisneros made two saves for Bloomfield, while Jackson recorded four facing seven shots on goal from the CACC Champions. The Bears outshot the Griffins 13-11 for the match and took six of the game's ten corner kicks.

In addition to Blake's MVP status, Cisneros, Kennedy, Claudio and Shaunavon DeSouza (Montego Bay, Jamaica) joined the 2015 CACC Men's Soccer All-Tournament team. Jaffe, Fussen and Joseph McGuigan (Philadelphia, P.A.) were named to the team from Chestnut Hill.

"I was proud of the intensity the guys brought to the field," head coach Peter-John Falloon said. "They were willing to fight at all costs to get the job done and in the end, the hard work paid off for them with a Championship." Falloon and the Bears, who suffered two back-to-back losses in league finals play during the 2009 and 2010 seasons were proud to return to Bloomfield, N.J. with the CACC Championship Banner Saturday evening. The Bears now anxiously wait to see if their season continues in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

The Division II men's soccer NCAA Tournament selection show will take place Monday, Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. For mor information, visit bcbearsathletics.com.