WORCESTER, Mass. – Sixth seeded Mount Ida scored the opening goal and held a lead at halftime of their Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) New England Men's Soccer tournament quarterfinal, but saw #3 Worcester State score twice in the second half and score a 2-1 victory on Wednesday evening at Coughlin Field.

The Mustangs, who were making their first appearance in the ECAC Tournament in program history, see their season come to a close with a record of 8-8-3.

The Lancers (12-4-4) advance to the semifinals where they will play Lasell College on Saturday at Springfield.

In what would end up being his final game as a Mustang, senior Steve MacDonald (Medford, Mass.) gave the Green and White the lead when he tallied his fourth goal of the year in the 16^th minute. MacDonald was slotted the ball by junior Dishawn Miller (Bristol, Conn.), and finished inside the near post from the top of the right box.

The play was set up by beautiful work by freshman Elias Mejia (Freehold, N.J.), who was crafty in the midfield and helped keep possession for the Mustangs, particularly throughout the first half, in which shots were 7-4 for Mount Ida.

Things turned around just shortly after the break, as Brendan Whitson (Auburn, Mass.) scored just three minutes after halftime for Worcester State, notching his Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) leading 13^th goal of the season.

Whitson lobbed Mount Ida keeper Mat Pils (Monroe, Conn.) on a long ball from his teammate, junior Derek Kareta (Ludlow, Mass.).

Pils made four stops for Mount Ida, while his counterpart, sophomore Nick Zucco (Ludlow, Mass.) saved five shots. Each team had six attempts on goal, though Mount Ida had a 15-12 edge in overall shots at the end of the night.

Senior Alex Wolfel (Unionville, Conn.) scored the eventual game-winner in the 60^th minute for the Lancers, taking the pass from Whitson and potting his 10^th marker of the season from the left side.

Mount Ida went on the attack until the final whistle, but could not convert any of their five chances in the last twenty minutes. Miller sent a dangerous cross into the box with just four minutes remaining and freshman forward Vlasi Duni (Peabody, Mass.) put a head to the ball, but it stayed in the air and just barely cleared the top of the post.

The 2013 season saw Mount Ida record its best record since the 2008 campaign. In addition to earning berths in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) and ECAC tournaments, the Mustangs got Carlos Martinez (Chelsea, Mass.) and Tyler Grothusen (Ramsey, N.J.) named to the GNAC All Conference Team, and had Head Coach Joe Campbell tabbed as GNAC Coach of the Year.