Hartford Hawks Men’s Soccer played to a 0-0 Draw against the Fighting Scots of Gordon College in a crucial game for Conference of New England Playoffs Standings.
Entering Tuesday’s game, the Hawks needed a win to jump Roger Williams and secure the 3rd or 4th spot in the CNE Playoffs. However, the Fighting Scots defense was able to keep the Hawks attack in check, with Austin Murawski’s 65th minute shot on goal being the only on target shot for the Hawks in the game.
Fortunately for the Hawks, the defensive line stood tall against a Gordon attack that had 15 shots, 5 of which were on target. The star of the game for the Hawks was Goalkeeper and reigning Conference of New England “Player of the Week” Ryan Lunn, who was perfect in net tonight. Saving all 5 of the Fighting Scots’ on target shots, Lunn not only kept the Hawks in the game, but kept them in the hunt for a home playoff game this Saturday.
Currently, the battle for a Home playoff spot looks like this:
BATTLE FOR HOME PLAYOFF GAME (BOLD MEANS CLINCHED) | ||
Team | Record | Points |
Endicott College | 9-0 | 27 |
Suffolk University | 6-1-2 | 20 |
University of Hartford | 4-3-2 | 14 |
Roger Williams University | 4-3-2 | 14 |
Western New England University | 4-3-1 | 13 |
Thanks to Hartford’s 2-0 win against Roger Williams on September 28th, Hartford holds a tiebreaker over Roger Williams. Therefore a win for either Western New England or Nichols College will secure a playoff game on Al-Marzook Field
IF: Western New England Wins
- Western New England jumps to 3rd place
- University of Hartford finishes 4th place via “Head-to-Head” Tiebreaker versus Roger Williams
IF: Nichols College Wins
- University of Hartford remains in 3rd place via “Head-to-Head” Tiebreaker versus Roger Williams
- Roger Williams remains in 4th place.
However, if both teams tie, this creates a three way tie between Western New England, Roger Williams, and Hartford. A three way tie with the added problem of the head-to-head tiebreakers each team’s identical record against the other two opponents. 1-1.
Hartford Hawks:
- Defeated Roger Williams 2-0
- Lost to Western New England 2-1
Western New England Golden Bears:
- Defeated Hartford 2-1
- Lost to Roger Williams 2-1
Roger Williams Hawks:
- Defeated West New England 2-1
- Lost to Hartford 2-0
Moreover, the record in “Common Games” would also be the exact same for all three teams: 3-2-2. So, where does this leave Hartford? According to CNE Rules, the decisive tiebreaker would be comparing the teams records against the highest seeds in the conference. While all three teams lost to the one seed: Endicott, Roger Williams was the only team that managed a draw against Suffolk. This means that should West New England and Nichols College draw, Roger Williams would jump to the three seed.
From there, the tiebreakers revert back to head to head, which West New England holds the advantage. Therefore, the final resulting standing would look like this:
CONFERENCE OF NEW ENGLAND PLAYOFF PICTURE (Denotes Home Field) | ||
Seed | School | Record (Pts) |
1 | Endicott College | 9-0-0 (27) |
2 | Suffolk University | 6-1-2 (20) |
3 | Roger Williams | 4-3-2 (14) |
4 | Western New England | 4-3-2 (14) |
5 | Hartford | 4-3-2 (14 |
All Eyes are on today’s matchup between the Western New England Golden Bears and the Nichols Bison. STN2 Sports will update the playoff picture when the final results are announced.