NORTON, MA- As the three-time defending New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament champion, the sixth-seeded Wheaton College men's soccer team heads into the final two rounds of the tournament this weekend at Babson College. The Lyons oppose number-two Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Saturday in a 1:30 p.m. semifinal, as the Blue and White continues a quest to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight season.

Wheaton, which is 10-4-4 after upending third-seeded Clark University, 1-0 on Wednesday, went 1-3-2 during NEWMAC play during the regular season, but two losses came by one goal, and the Lyons blanked their foes during both ties. The winner of Wheaton's contest with MIT, which the Blue and White played to a scoreless stalemate on October 25, advances to Sunday's 1:00 p.m. final. Top-seeded Babson and number-four United States Coast Guard Academy play in the other Saturday semifinal at 10:30 a.m.

In qualifying for their ninth consecutive NEWMAC Tournament semifinal round and 10th in the league's 11-year history, the Lyons reached the 10-win plateau for the 17th straight season. With its win over Clark, Wheaton has now posted six consecutive shutouts in NEWMAC Tournament play while going 6-0-1 in its past seven league postseason contests. While recording a 17-3-1 all-time mark during conference tournament action, the Lyons have defeated MIT all three times they have met, each in the finals. Wheaton holds a 12-2-1 series advantage behind five consecutive shutouts over the Engineers.

Defense has been the Blue and White's strength of late, as the Lyons have blanked their last three opponents and yielded just two goals in the past 611:43. Much like in 2007, sophomore keeper Cole Davidson (Needham, MA/Salisbury School) has hit his stride late in the season. Three of his four shutouts last year came during the NEWMAC and NCAA tournaments, and each of his three clean sheets this fall have come since October 25. In five career postseason games, he has four shutouts. While going 8-2-4 thus far in 2008, Davidson yielded one goal or fewer eight times in 14 appearances.

A trio of Lyon defenders is among the regulars in the lineup, as senior tri-captain Ben Resnicow (Newton, MA/Newton North), sophomore tri-captain David Ferriero (Medway, MA/Medway) and classmate David Winrow (South Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) have each started all 18 games. Ferriero, who moved into the backfield early in the season after appearing as a forward, has four goals and five helpers, while Resnicow turned in a two-goal game at Coast Guard on October 3.

Wheaton's offense has run through a pair of sophomores, with tri-captain Yuri Moreira (Marlboro, MA/Northfield Mount Hermon School) and Josh Solomon (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxboro Regional) combining to score 19 of the team's 37 goals. Moreira's 11 markers leave him one shy of the program's single-season top 10, as four goals have gone as winners. Solomon has recorded eight tallies while collecting 10 assists, the most by a Lyon since 2003. He has two game-winners.

Versatile sophomore Eric Driscoll (Lexington, MA/Lexington) has found a home up front, scoring four times and assisting on three other occasions, while classmate Jake Wagner (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) has seven helpers thanks in large part to his long throw-in ability.