MIT's Overtime Goal Lifts Engineers to Victory Over Host Wheaton

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) men's soccer sophomore Nick Diamantoni (Belle Mead, N.J./The Lawrenceville School) scored with 3:41 to play in overtime on Wednesday at Wheaton College's Keefe Field, leading the fifth-seeded Engineers to a 1-0 victory over the fourth-seeded Lyons in the opening round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament. 
  
MIT, which is ranked in a tie for 10th in New England by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), advances to Saturday's semifinal round at top seed Babson College and will face the host Beavers at 10:30 a.m. The Engineers improved to 12-4-1, while Wheaton finished its fall at 9-7-4. 
  
Diamantoni's goal came on the heels of two MIT corner kicks.  On a restart from the right side of the field, junior Andrew Fijan (West Chester, Pa./West Chester) crossed his pass toward the far post to a waiting Diamantoni, whose one-time finish carried to the right side of the net and beyond the outstretched hands of Wheaton sophomore goalie Jeff Paer (Fair Lawn, N.J./Fair Lawn). 
  
Not even three minutes into the overtime, the Engineers put forward a point-blank shot from freshman Sean Bingham (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) that was directed toward the target, but Lyon sophomore defender Marlon Ramalho (Framingham, Mass./Bridgton Academy) made a huge save from the sitting position to keep the game scoreless. 
  
Bingham had other golden scoring opportunities over the course of the match, including ringing the crossbar 1:50 and 35:32 into the first half.  Wheaton's best chance of the opening frame took place at 26:30, when freshman Noah Kossoff's (New York, N.Y./Birch Wathen Lenox School) hard shot carried just wide of the left post. 
  
The Engineers controlled play in the second half, taking 15 of 21 shots, but Paer was up to the task in making four saves. MIT also registered four of the second half's five corner kicks. 
  
Paer finished the afternoon with five saves, while Engineer freshman Jake Amereno (Commack, N.Y./Commack) made two stops to improve to 6-1 on the season. 
  
The visitors held advantages of 23-10 in shots and 7-2 in corners.