Bangor, ME – Castleton State College advanced to the NCAA III National Tournament on penalty kicks 5-3 over Husson University. This is their second championship in as many years. The game featured all that you would want in a title game and was tied 1-1 after a 110 minutes of soccer.

Tournament MVP Mike Anthony (Sr, Dartmouth, MA) turned away Nathan Carter's penalty kick for the difference. Castleton converted on all five of their penalty kicks; Ryan Hahn (Sr, Benson, VT), Corey Robbins (Sr, Barre, VT), TJ Mazza (Sr, Lake George, NY), Jason Potter (Ludlow, VT), and Greg Klopfer (Jr, Voorheesville, NY) all converted their attempts.

The game was scoreless at half time. The Spartans struck first 3:28 into the second half as Mazza served a pass in front of the net and Klopfer headed it home to put Castleton up 1-0.

The Eagles put constant pressure on Anthony having numerous scoring opportunities in the second half. Josh Labonte (Fy, Winslow, ME) scored the game tying goal with just over 10 minutes remaining, putting a shot on net from just inside mid-field that found the net.

Both keepers played well in net. Anthony finished with 7 saves while Miguel Dominguez (So, Rome, GA) had 4 saves.

The 2008 NAC All-Tournament team; U. Maine Farmington – Andrew Merriken and James Tollefson, Husson University – Josh Bartlett, Billy Shannon, and Natapong Kongsuriya, Castleton State – Greg Klopher, Sean Fizgerald, and Nick Bellizzi. Two members from Lyndon State were named but not available at this time.

Castleton moves to 12-8-1 on the season while Husson finishes 10-7-1.

Castleton advances to the NCAA III National Tournament for the 4th time in 6 years. They will learn their seeding on Monday, November 10th.