Berntsen Named All-New England

BOSTON, Mass. – Junior defender Anthony Berntsen (Portland, Maine) of the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's soccer team has been named First Team All-New England by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

A tri-captain of this season's squad, Berntsen had an outstanding season for the Leopards, starting all 22 games he appeared in an being the backbone of a Wentworth defensive unit that held its opponent to one or fewer goals in 15 games, including eight shutouts.  Over 11 of the final 12 games of the 2009 season, the Leopards outscored their opponents 20-3.  Bernsten, who was a Second-Team All-The Commonwealth Coast Conference selection, notched his first career goal in a 5-2 win at New England College on Oct. 8.

Berntsen has played in 51 games over this three-year career, starting 36 of them and has recorded two career points during this span, coming on his goal this year.

Wentworth's men's soccer team had a season to remember in 2009, finishing the season with a 15-8 record and claiming the ECAC New England Division III Men's Soccer Championship for the first time in the program's history.  Standing at 5-6 after a 5-0 loss at Western New England on Oct. 10, the Leopards went 5-1 in their final six regular-season games, including 5-0 in conference play.  This streak propelled Wentworth to the number three seed in TCCC Tournament where the Leopards posted shutouts over Nichols (1-0, overtime) and Roger Williams (2-0) in the first two rounds of the tournament before falling to Western New England, 4-0, in the title game for the second time in three seasons.  As the top seed in the ECAC Tournament, Wentworth defeated Lesley, 2-1, and Anna Maria and Castleton by identical 1-0 scores to claim the title.  The 15 wins tied the school record which was established in 2007 when Wentworth fell in both the conference title game and the ECAC Tournament title game.