(CAMBRIDGE, Mass.)- The No. 3 seed Elms College Blazers scored two second half goals en route to a hard fought 2-0 victory over top seeded Lesley University (12-5-2) in the championship game of the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's soccer tournament on Sunday afternoon at Edward Field in Cambridge, Mass. With the victory the Blazers earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Tournament slated to begin Nov. 8 and 10-11.

Connor O'Grady (Somers, Conn.) and Ziggy Jonathan (Burundi, Africa) each tallied goals for Elms (11-7-2) while goalie Nicholson Pennant (Kingston, Jamaica) was sensational in goal for the Blazer finishing with six saves to earn the shutout victory.

Both teams came out playing a strong, physical game, resulting in a first half that yielded few legitimate offensive threats for both clubs with Lesley holding a slight advantage in shots 7-4.

The defensive display continued well into the second half until Elms finally got on the board in the 57^th minute. Drawing a foul 25 yards out on the left side of the box, O'Grady unleashed a bending rocket into the far top right corner of the goal over leaping Lynx goalie Nigel Leahy (New Paltz, N.Y.) to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead.

Down by a goal, the Lynx offense began to pressure and the momentum started to swing towards the defending champs and No. 1 seed. The Lynx rally would culminate with several scoring chances off two straight corners kicks with less than 10-minutes remaining, the latter of which would see the ball pop out to the top of the box and on to the foot of Sean Randall (Fremont, Calif.) who blasted a low liner destined for the back of the goal only to see Pennant make a diving save to preserve the one goal lead.

Elms would halt any thought of a comeback for the Lynx moments later clearing a ball out of their end and over the Lesley defense where Jonathan fought off one defender and lobbed the ball over a challenging Leahy (4 saves) for a 2-0 lead with less than five minutes remaining as the Elms would go on for the championship victory.

Both teams finished with six shots on goal while Lesley held the advantage in corner kicks 10-2.

Following the conclusion of the game the NECC Men's Soccer All-Tournament Team was announced: