Sep. 23, 2006

WORCESTER, MASS. - In a battle of regionally ranked teams, Clark University scored two second half goals to post a thrilling 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Babson College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's soccer action at Granger Field on Saturday afternoon.

Both teams came into today's game ranked sixth in New England. Clark, which entered the game with six straight shutout victories, improved to 6-0-1 (2-0 NEWMAC). This marked the first win for the Cougars over Babson since 2001. Babson fell to 4-2-2 and 1-1 in the conference.

The Cougars fought to overcome a 1-0 deficit early in the second half. David Blum's (Irvington, N.Y.) header found the back of the net just 33 seconds in. Lino Goncalves (Newton, Mass.) got an assist on the play. The eventual game-winner came in the 58th minute. Following a throw in from Stillman Shaw (Anson, Me.), Daniel Hoffman (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) corralled the loose ball in front of the goal and booted it past Babson goalkeeper Chris Necklas (Guilford, Conn.) to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead.

The Beavers thought they had the equalizer in the 74th minute, but sophomore Tim Winn's (Sutton, Mass.) goal was withdrawn after he was called off-sides. Winn had snapped the Cougars' shutout streak at the 28:39 mark of the first half. From the far right corner, junior Kevin Owens (Boulder, Colo.) served a ball to Garrett Bates (Norwell, Mass.), who chipped a shot that deflected off of Winn's head into the far left corner to give the Beavers a 1-0 lead.

Matt Talbot (Harvard, Mass.) had one save to notch his sixth win of the season, while Necklas stopped two shots for Babson. Clark will host Rhode Island College on Wednesday (6 p.m.). Babson plays host to regionally-ranked Western New England College that same day at 4 p.m.