BROOKLYN, N.Y. - In yet another thrilling contest, the LIU Brooklyn men's soccer team (11-5-4, 7-0-0 NEC) punched its ticket to the NCAA College Cup and was crowned the 2015 Northeast Conference Tournament champion Sunday afternoon, besting the No. 2 seeded Saint Francis University in its second penalty-kick decision of the tournament. Once again, NEC Tournament MVP
Logan Keys made a pair of crucial saves in the championship shootout to clinch the title for the Blackbirds, sending them to the Big Dance for the first time since the 2004 season.
Both teams were evenly matched from the start of the game, with the first save by Keys coming in the 17th minute, punching away a header shot from the Red Flash' s Jack Webber. Redshirt freshman
Romario Guscott had the first scoring opportunity for the Blackbirds in the 19th minute from 12 yards that was stopped by Saint Francis U's keeper Marcus Rojas.
In the 29th minute, the Red Flash's Conner Rezende scored his fourth goal of the season, finding the back of the net to give his team a 1-0 lead. NEC Rookie of the Year
Rasmus Hansen took a daring shot from 25 yards to try to even the score for LIU, barely missing high. Saint Francis held its lead going into the second half of the match, 1-0.
Early in the second half, Hansen sent a corner kick inside the box to senior
Jacob Smith for a header shot, but it was intercepted by Rojas. In the 59th minute, senior
Tyler Draovitch sent the ball down the right side to Smith, who sent a cross to redshirt freshman
Romario Guscott. Guscott was able to get a foot on the ball and sneak it inside the post to tie the game at 1-1.
The Blackbirds built upon that momentum and scored again in the 76th minute. Freshman
Simen Hestnes passed off the ball to fellow classmate Filip Nordstrom, who fought off the Red Flash defense to get the ball to Hansen. The NEC Rookie of the Year curled a shot back against the grain to give LIU Brooklyn a 2-1 lead. But the advantage was brief, however, as Saint Francis U answered back a minute later to tie the game at 2-2. The contest moved to overtime, which was fairly uneventful through the first 10 minutes.
After the whistle to end the first extra period, an LIU player received a red card for the second straight game. Keys made three impressive saves with the Blackbirds down a man in the 104th, 107th and 108th minutes to keep the Blackbirds' championship dreams alive and forcing yet another shootout for the tournament title.
In the shootout, Hansen, senior
Tanner Sica and Nordstrom each made their opportunities in the first, second and third rounds for LIU, while Keys made two crucial saves in the intial three rounds, to bring the penalty kicks to 3-1 in LIU's favor. With just two rounds remaining and the Blackbirds having just missed on a chance to clinch things, SFU's penalty taker missed wide to clinch the title for the Blackbirds as fans rushed on the field to celebrate.
UP NEXTThe selection show for the 2015 NCAA Men's Soccer College Cup is set to take place on Monday, Nov. 16 at 1:00 p.m., at which time it will be announced who the Blackbirds will face in the first round of tournament.