LORETTO, Pa. – The fourth-seeded Sacred Heart University men's soccer team will head to the program's first Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship Game after advancing past top-seeded Saint Francis in penalties on the road on Thursday. After being tied at 1-1 through two overtimes, the Pioneers took PKs, 5-3.
Alex Almuzara scored the lone Pioneer goal and
Andrew Hammersley captured the game-winning save on the third Saint Francis penalty kick.
Records:
Sacred Heart: 6-7-5 (3-2-4 NEC)
Saint Francis: 7-0-8 (5-0-3 NEC)
Top Performers:
Alex Almuzara: 1 goal, 1 shot, 1 shot on goal
David Garcia Gallego: 3 shots, 1 shot on goal
Andrew Hammersley: 3 saves
Of note:
Saint Francis opened scoring just 35 seconds into the second half when a cross from Charlie Lucero was deflected by a Pioneer in the box right to the foot of Fabian Wagner for the low right goal.
Sacred Heart quickly responded in the 48
th minute when Almuzara dribbled through multiple defenders before sending the ball into the top right corner of the goal shifting the momentum of the game.
The Pioneers saw another opportunity when
David Garcia Gallego caught the crossbar in the 67th minute. Both teams went scoreless over the two 10-minute periods to force penalty kicks.
Following the coin toss, the Pioneers shot first in the shootout.
Matthias Dick,
Etienne Murugarren,
Olliver Persson, converted their kicks. The third Red Flash kick was saved by Hammersley which increased the tensity on the field. Garcia Gallego followed and sent his PK into the back of the net. Finally,
Aidan Borra finished off SFU by converting the final penalty.
SFU outshot the Pioneers 14-5 and 4-2 on goal. The Red flash saw seven corners to SHU's four.
Up Next:
The Pioneers head to second-seeded LIU for the NEC Championship Sunday, November 9
th, at 12:00 p.m.
