Courtesy Worcester State Sports Information

Cape Cod, MA --- The Worcester State men’s soccer team has been tabbed into the sixth seed and will travel to #3 Castleton State on Wednesday at 6 PM in this week’s upcoming ECAC Division III New England Men’s Soccer Tournament. This marks the second-ever ECAC appearance for the Lancers.

The winner will advance to the semifinals and play either second-seeded Albertus Magnus or #7 Endicott on Saturday at top-seed Brandeis. The Judges are taking on #8 Southern Vermont on Wednesday and the other matchup includes #4 UMass Boston entertaining fifth seeded Norwich.

Brandeis, the defending ECAC New England champion, will also host the championship on Sunday.

WSU’s only other ECAC appearance came during the 2007 season. The Blue and Gold upset Coast Guard 2-1 in overtime in the quarterfinals before they were bounced by top-seed Norwich, 1-0, in the semifinals.

The Lancers come into the contest with an overall record of 8-8-2 as they were defeated by Salem State 1-0 in overtime in the semifinals of the MASCAC Tournament on Thursday. It marked the first time since 2007 that the squad had qualified for the four-team competition.

Sophomore Alex Wolfel (Unionville, CT) paces Worcester State with eight goals and three assists while senior Justin Biela (Bridgewater, MA) also has recorded four markers and four dishes. Freshman Michael Jordan (Ludlow, MA) has added a trio of tallies and two assists.

Senior net minder Evan Wilga (Dudley, MA) is second in the MASCAC in goals against average (1.16) and save percentage (.833) as he also has five shutouts to his credit. Wilga has 14 career shutouts.

Castleton State (12-6-3) comes off a hard 3-2 setback to Husson in the North Atlantic Conference championship game. For the Spartans this is their third ECAC appearance as they were selected in 2005 and lost in the finals to Wentworth 1-0 in 2009.

Castleton State is led by junior Trevor Kotrady (N. Clarendon, VT) who is second in the NAC in points with 14 goals and two assists – including five for game winners. Sophomore Spencer Dandurand (Colchester, VT) and freshman Dameon Young (Fairfax, VT) have both combined for 11 goals and 11 helpers for the Spartans.

Senior Nick Johnas (Niskayuna, NY) was named the NAC Defensive Player of the Year last week as he has helped propel Castleton to third in the league in goals allowed (24) and goals against average (1.15). The Spartans, who finished NAC play at 7-1-1, yielded just six goals during conference play.

The matchup between Worcester State and Castleton State marks the first-ever meeting between the two squads.