(10-25-06)
Box Score
Brookville, N.Y. -- The University of New Haven men's soccer team upset #20 C.W. Post on Wednesday afternoon in the semifinals of the East Coast Conference tournament, advancing to the Championship match on penalty kicks (4-3). Sophomore goalkeeper James Hilaire (photo) made a diving save on the final penalty kick opportunity by C.W. Post's Richard Dell to seal the outcome.
New Haven (6-10-3), the #3 seed, got revenge on #2 seed C.W. Post (12-3-4) - the Pioneers had won the regular-season meeting between the teams, 1-0, on a double-overtime penalty kick.
The first four shooters for the Chargers, Jessey Fernandez, Tyler Smith, John Nolan and Justin Fernandez, all made their penalty kicks to push UNH through to the next round.
The Chargers will travel to top-seeded Dowling College, rated #1 in the nation by the NSCAA/adidas poll, for the ECC Championship on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 1:00 p.m. Dowling defeated fourth-seeded University of Bridgeport on Wednesday, 3-1.
The match was tied 1-1 after two overtime periods, ending officially as a draw on the teams' records. But for the purposes of advancing a team to the ECC Championship game, the teams went to penalty kicks with each side given five shots on goal.
Jessey Fernandez shot first and scored, which was followed by a make by CWP's Anthony Baker. Smith (UNH) and Jose Batista (CWP) both made their kicks, followed by Nolan's good attempt to give UNH a 3-2 lead.
It was then that Jose Castillo missed his attempt when his shot hit the crossbar and angled back out. That opened the door for the Chargers, and Justin Fernandez converted to give UNH a 4-2 advantage.
Rocco Morelli, the C.W. Post goalkeeper, then made a penalty kick to force the teams to continue shooting at 4-3. A Damien Slubowski miss for UNH left Richard Dell with an opportunity to send the PK's to another round, but his shot was stopped by Hilaire as the UNH bench erupted. The shot, intended for the right side, was stopped by a full-extension dive by Hilaire going to his left.
"We played well enough to win, but so did they," said UNH head coach Matt Verni. "The guys just made their shots in the penalty kicks. It was a hard game, a good game, and I expected to get through it. James dove to his left, full extension to grab the win."
The teams were tied 1-1 through two overtime periods. C.W. Post scored just 2 minutes, 3 seconds into the match when Julian Escobar crossed a ball into the box and Jose Batista scored for the 1-0 Pioneers lead.
They held that lead for nearly 76 minutes, before John Macary connected on a pass to Tyler Smith to tie the contest.
"Honestly, it was a tale of two halves with the strong winds," said Verni, "and we didn't have it (to our advantage) in the first. We gave up a bad first goal, and persevered through a bad first half. We had the wind at our backs and increased the pressure in the second half. Dave Bienia threw it through the box, Macary headed it to the side and Smith blasted a volley into the goal."
This was the first victory in six tries for UNH against nationally-ranked teams this season.
The ECC Championship match will be audio broadcast live on the internet, so please check this website on Saturday for a link to the streaming audio.
PENALTY KICKS
UNH Jessey Fernandez - MADE (UNH 1-0)
CWP Anthony Baker - MADE (Tied 1-1)
UNH Tyler Smith - MADE (UNH 2-1)
CWP Jose Batista - MADE (Tied 2-2)
UNH John Nolan - MADE (UNH 3-2)
CWP Jose Castillo - MISSED HIGH (UNH 3-2)
UNH Justin Fernandez - MADE (UNH 4-2)
CWP Rocco Morelli - MADE (UNH 4-3)
UNH Damien Slubowski - MISSED (UNH 4-3)
CWP Richard Dell - SAVED by Hilaire (UNH wins, 4-3)
