DANBURY, Conn. – On paper it was a battle of David vs. Goliath, but Saturday on the pitch UMass Boston Men's Soccer battled to a scoreless tie after 110 minutes against WestConn, a team that had not lost a match since last season's Little East Conference Championship match, before defeating the unbeaten Wolves on penalty kicks, 4-2, to win their fourth LEC Championship.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 0, WestConn 0 (UMB 4-2 Penalty Kicks)
UMass Boston (10-5-3)
WestConn (20-0-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Coming into the match, WestConn was ranked 16
th nationally in the D3soccer.com Poll, 21
st nationally in the United Soccer Coaches ranking, and entering the season were ranked second in the LEC Preseason Poll with 54 points and two first place votes. The top-seeded Wolves defeated fifth-seeded Rhode Island College, 2-0, at home on Thursday night during the LEC Semifinals.
In contrast, UMass Boston entered the match coming off a thrilling 4-3 victory in overtime of the LEC Semifinals at home versus three-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University. The Beacons entered the season ranked third in the preseason poll with 49 points and one first place vote but had their ups and downs to end the season after starting 6-0 in LEC play, finishing the regular season 0-2-1 including a 2-1 loss at WestConn on October 22
nd.
For 110 minutes, both teams would combine for a total of 20 shots with just two shots each reaching and being corralled by junior goalkeeper
Qasim El-Ashkar and freshman goalkeeper Zachary Benson, leading to five rounds of penalty kicks.
For the penalty kicks, WestConn elected for sophomore goalkeeper Matthew Silva to stand in net while El-Ashkar remained the goalkeeper for UMass Boston. In the first round, freshman forward
Nick Braganca had his shot stopped by Silva who dove to the right side of the goal mouth while junior forward Franz Muhaj went middle high and scored against El-Ashkar who dove to his right.
Sophomore defender
Diego Gisholt would net his penalty kick, faking out Silva who pointed to his right before diving left while Gisholt challenged the goalkeeper by going right side to tie it up. However, sophomore midfielder Kadin Talho would make WestConn go two-for-two, going high middle on El-Ashkar who dove to his right like on Muhaj's penalty attempt.
Taking the first penalty kick of his career, freshman forward
Ryan Lima faked left before going right on Silva during the third round while the third consecutive dive to the right for El-Ashkar paid off as he stopped sophomore forward Jordan Dacosta's shot attempt, tying the PKs up at two.
Freshman forward
Luan Cruz gave the Beacons the lead in the PKs as he beat Silva going to the center of the goal while El-Ashkar stopped freshman defender Filipe Dutra's left side attempt, leaving UMass Boston with a 3-2 advantage heading into the final round.
Needing a goal in the final round or save from El-Ashkar, junior midfielder
Maan Albehacy beat Silva down the center of the goal mouth, giving the Beacons a 4-2 win in penalty kicks as they stormed the field to celebrate their fourth Little East Conference Championship.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Both teams combined for just one shot on goal in the 20-minute overtime period with UMass Boston registering the lone shot in the first 10-minute frame
- Both teams combined for 32 total fouls with UMass Boston recording 18 fouls to WestConn's 14 fouls
- Senior midfielder Cristian Suvak was named the LEC Tournament's Most Outstanding Player
- The Beacons are now 4-0 in LEC Championship games
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will await the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Selection Show set to take place at 1:30 PM on Monday afternoon for the time, date, and location of their first-round matchup in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
