FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Despite holding a 14-8 shot advantage, the Sacred Heart men's soccer team could not overcome Northeast Conference leader LIU Brooklyn in a 3-1 loss at Campus Field on Friday afternoon.

With the win, the Blackbirds clinched the NEC regular season title as they improved to a perfect 6-0-0 in league play and 9-5-2 overall. The loss dropped the Pioneers to 1-11-1 and 0-6-0 in the conference.

Holding a 1-0 halftime lead despite not registering a shot on net, LIU took control of the contest with two goals from Romario Guscott in the opening seven minutes of the second half. He first took advantage of a SHU mistake less than four minutes in, intercepting a backwards pass intended for the goalie before dribbling around the keeper to put his team on top 2-0. Just over three minutes later the lead was three as a charging Guscott received a pass from Rasmus Hansen and blasted his shot from just outside the box over the charging goalie.

Sacred Heart got on the board thanks to a free kick in the 70^th minute. After the ball was played in, two attempts were blocked before the Pioneers passed the ball back out of the box. Shaquille Sanchez would then blast a shot off the crossbar from twenty yards out, with rebound falling to an unmarked Callum Smith for a free header on net. It would be the Pioneers' only attempt on goal in the second half. 

Despite SHU's advantage in shots, each team had six attempts on goal.  Logan Keys made all five of his saves in the first half for the win, while Tucker Hackett's three saves all came late in the second. 

LIU, who attempted just one shot in the first half, opened the scoring thanks a SHU own goal late in the first half. Hansen sent a low cross in from the left endline in 40^th minute that redirected into the goal when a Pioneer defender attempted to clear the ball and it deflected off of his teammate.

Sacred Heart returns to Campus Field for a midweek nonconference matchup with NJIT at 4 pm on Wednesday.

First Half

• Sacred Heart outshot the Blackbirds 8-1, putting five of those attempts on net 
• Murray Cockburn sent the first shot of the afternoon high from 30 yards out in the 12^th minute
• Sanchez led the Pioneers with three shots, including the first attempt on net in the 14^th.  He had an effort blocked in the 29^th and another saved in the 33^rd.
• SHU earned the lone corner of half in the 19^th
• Eric Siyadhuba's had two free kicks from the right side saved in the 21^st and 30^th minutes, respectively
• LIU's only shot of the half came on a Hansen free kick that was blocked with just under seven minutes remaining

Second Half

• The Blackbirds first corner of the game led to a blocked shot in 64^th minute
• SHU's first shot of the half, by Andrew Bregna, was blocked in the 67^th
• Hackett denied Guscott a hat trick in the 70^th minute, coming out of his net to make a point blank stop on the edge of the box after a through ball had played him in. He then made a similar denial on Hansen just a minute after Sacred Heart's goal, and another on Naeem Charles in the 79^th.