FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – Junior Elliot Spatz (Bellevue, Wash.) scored twice in the span of six minutes and the Connecticut College men's soccer team defeated No. 10 Denison 2-1 in the Elite Eight. With the win, Conn improves to 13-2-7 on the year, while Denison ends the year at 15-2-6.

Denison opened the contest with the first two shots of the afternoon, as Alessandro Horvath Diano (New Haven, Conn.) came up with a big block, before Peter Silvester (Smiths Parish, Bermuda) made a save. Conn answered with their first two efforts, but both Matt Scoffone (Thornton, Pa.) and Gavin Vanden Berg (Lake Forest Park, Wash.) put shots high.

The Big Red earned back-to-back corner kicks, on the second one, Denison opened the scoring. Henri Heyes snuck a shot in off the post at 13:05 to make it 1-0. Conn answered, upping the pressure looking for an equalizer. Horvath Diano connected with Spatz who let a shot go from well outside the box, beating Denison keeper Tommy Prokos to tie the game at 29:59. 

Just under six minutes later, the Camels took the lead. A ball was played into the box where Jack Lavorel (Bethesda, Md.) headed a ball to Horvath Diano who tapped it down to Spatz who beat Prokos to make it 2-1 at 35:44. Conn closed out the final 10 minutes of the opening half, taking the 2-1 advantage into the break.

Conn had a good look to double the lead early in the second half, as Prokos was unable to corral a ball into the box, but Rye Jaran's (Downingtown, Pa.) shot went over the crossbar. Both teams held strong throughout most of the second half as the game remained 2-1 in favor of Conn.

With just over 13 minutes remaining, the Camels again nearly got an insurance marker as Spatz played in Sam Boehm (Lexington, Mass.) but Prokos came up with a big save, before Spatz was robbed by Prokos just a minute later. WIth just seconds remaining, Dension had one last look to tie the game, but Silvester came up with one last save to punch the Camels ticket to the NCAA Final Four.

Conn outshot Denison 19-9 overall, including 8-7 on shots on target, while the Big Red held a slim 5-4 edge on corner kicks.

Silvester picked up the win between the sticks, finishing with six saves. Spatz tallied both goals for the Camels, while Horvath Diano added two assists and Lavorel also chipped in a helper.

Prokos recorded six saves in goal for Denison. Heyes notched the lone goal for the Big Red, while Kameron Kist added an assist.

Conn advances to the NCAA Final Four for the second time in program history and will face Washington and Lee in the National Semifinals on Thursday, December 5 at 9:00 p.m. in Las Vegas, Nev.