Courtesy Salem State Sports Information

Salem, MA -- The Salem State Vikings claimed their second straight Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference championship with a stirring 3-0 victory over the Framingham State Rams on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.

Salem State will now await their next opponent as they automatically qualify for the NCAA Division III tournament. Head coach Don Goodwin's squad became the first back-to-back MASCAC conference champions since Worcester State accomplished the feat as part of three straight tournament titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

The Vikings jumped on top early when Juan Panameno (Revere, MA) scored on a direct kick that deflected off a Framingham State player to give the home team a 1-0 lead with 16:01 left in the first half.

The Vikings then controlled play for the rest of the opening period as the blue and orange out-shot the Rams 11-4 in the half and held a 3-2 margin in corner kicks. Salem State had two strong scoring opportunities thwarted by excellent defensive play. Will Menter (Haverhill, MA) made a great defensive save for the Rams on a Jovan Sempa (Woburn, MA) shot from 15 yards out  after goalie after Greg Halle (Beverly, MA) strayed too far out of the box to keep the game scoreless. Later Sean Austin (Winchester, MA) made another block on an Owen Quane (Weymouth, MA) shot at the 28:20 mark to keep Salem State off the scoreboard.

Scotty Faria (Fall River, MA) almost tied the game for Framingham State with a rocket that was stopped by Scott Hall (Waltham, MA) with 8:40 remaining in the first half. Salem State kept MASCAC player of the year Jason Silva (Northbridge, MA) in check limiting the forward to just two first half shots on goal as the Vikings carried a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Jovan Sempa (Woburn, MA) extended the Salem State lead to 2-0 lead when he scored on a break-away with 24:39 remaining in the second half. The Rams had two excellent scoring chances when Joel Kayima (Malden, MA) just missed cutting the deficit to 2-1 when his shot went just wide of the left goal post at 83:34, and later Framingham State's Silva hit the post with a shot with only 4:20 remaining in the game.

Tony Moreno (Lynn, MA) iced the game for Salem State with a score at 88:28 to make the final 3-0.

The Vikings used a stifling defense, out-shooting the Rams 17-8, and never allowed Framingham State to find an offensive rhythm in a game that featured 33 fouls, six yellow cards and one red card combined between the teams.

Hall making just his fifth start in goal picked up the win while making two saves for the Vikings, who improve to 9-5-4 on the year. Halle, who made five saves, suffered the loss for Framingham State, which finished the season at 11-9-1.

Junior Rafael Santos (East Boston, MA) was named MASCAC tournament MVP for Salem State.