The Gordon Men's Soccer program got winning a Commonwealth Coast Conference title off its back, beating Endicott 2-0 to grab its first championship since the 2003 season. With that in its grasp, Gordon has its sights set on an even higher prize.
 
Gordon won its first ever NCAA tournament game during the 2013 season before being bounced in the second round by eventual national quarterfinalist Amherst. Despite having a year off from the tourney, the Fighting Scots will look to that experience to guide them through another tough draw at the national level.
 
The Scots open their quest for making some noise in the national tournament against Carnegie Mellon out of the University Athletic Association. The UAA put the most teams in the tournament out of any conference in the country, including local program Brandeis. Carnegie Mellon went 11-3-3 in the regular season and fell short of the UAA crown, but grabbed one of the 19 at-large bids available for the postseason tournament.
 
The Fighting Scots and Tartans are the second and third seeds in a pod hosted by Franklin & Marshall out of the Centennial Conference. The Diplomats won the regular season title in the conference, but dropped three of its final four games, including two losses to league rival Dickinson in the semifinals. Franklin & Marshall held the top ranking in the country according to the NSCAA and has consistently been mentioned by D3Soccer.com as one of the best teams across the nation.
 
The Diplomats will host Babson in the first round, who shook off a tough regular season to take the automatic bid from the talent-laden NEWMAC. The Beavers are the hottest team of the four in the pod, winning their last five games, and hold a 12-6-2 record heading into this weekend.
 
Carnegie Mellon Things to Know:
 

• The Tartans have the 31^st best scoring offense in the country. At 2.65 goals per game, Carnegie Mellon has outscored its opponents by 25 scores on the year.
• Senior William Webb has scored over a quarter of the Tartans' goals this season with 13. The midfielder from Dallas, Texas was on the All-UAA First team his junior season and on the All-Region Second team from the NSCAA. He doubled his career points in his senior season with 31 total.
• Freshman keeper Alec Lam has played a majority of the minutes in each of the last three games for Carnegie Mellon. He has only allowed one goal in those game against Washington (Mo.), Chicago and Case Western Reserve.
• The Tartans check in at 18^th on the most recent D3Soccer.com national poll.

 
Franklin & Marshall Things to Know:
 

• The Diplomats have the 15^th best scoring defense in the country, with only 10 goals against them this fall. Gordon is 33^rd. Franklin & Marshall has a 4:1 goals to goals allowed ratio.
• Senior forward Chase TenBrook (Millville, N.J.) leads the team with 11 goals, but has registered only one assist on the year. He also connects shots on goal at a clip of 60-percent with four game-winning goals in 18 games.
• Freshman Ugo Okolie is the Diplomats other talented front line player with six goals and four assists, including two game winners.
• Senior Trevor Britton has started every game for F&M and pitched nine shutouts, while only allowing eight balls in the net. He has a .822 save percentage this year.
• The Diplomats are 11^th in the most recent D3Soccer.com poll and fifth in the Mid-Atlantic region according to the NSCAA.

 
Babson Things to Know:
 

• Sat at 7-6-3 with three games remaining in regular season. Won out and took home NEWMAC title over nationally ranked MIT.
• Has scored 33 goals to only 22 allowed. Lowest scoring offense among the four teams in the pod and most goals allowed.
• Tyler Carlos  leads with team in goals and points with nine and 24 respectively, while starting 15 of 19 games.
• Stephen Donato acts as the Beavers main goalkeeper and has posted a .831 save percentage in 2015. Seven total shutouts.

 
Gordon Things to Know:
 

• The Scots were 25 seconds away from having their season ended in the conference quarterfinals before turning things around and winning the whole tournament. 15 wins ties for most in the pod with Franklin & Marshall.
• Josh Spoonhour has the best save percentage of any of the main keepers in the tournament with a season mark of .855.
• Gordon's attack is split amongst four players with Caleb Cole (Coatesville, Pa.) leading the way at eight goals and six assists. Leads team in both categories. Tyler Modzeleski's (Cazenovia, N.Y.) strong second half of the season gives him seven goals and three assists. Evan Crocker (Akron, Ohio) and Josh Cochran (Bellville, Ohio) are just behind the top two.
• After the CCC win, Gordon find itself receiving votes in a national poll for the first time since the preseason poll.

 
Coach Speak:
 
"We are looking forward to the tournament games this weekend and trying to have the correct balance as a team of appreciating the accomplishment of reaching this moment and recognizing the opportunity we have to make this season all the more special."
 
"No game in the NCAA tournament is going to be easy and so we know we are stepping on the field to battle for 90 minutes.  The game in front of us is all that matters and then with that game only the next play matters.  It is not always the best teams or most talented teams that advance in the NCAA tournament, the teams that advance are the ones that are mentally tough enough and committed enough to fully invest themselves and compete for 90 + minutes."

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