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News Release
MEN'S SOCCER SEASON ENDS IN PENALTY KICKS AT NEC TOURNAMENT
11/15/2002
Baltimore, MD-The 2002 Northeast Conference finals will be a rematch of last year's title game, as both #1 seed LIU and #3 seed FDU advanced to Sunday's finale at UMBC Soccer Stadium. The top-seeded Blackbirds (11-5-3) cruised to a comfortable3-0 win over #4 Robert Morris (9-9-2), while the defending champion Knights (8-4-8) advanced via penalty kicks, 3-2, after playing to a 0-0 tied with #2 UMBC (11-6-3). In the opener, junior forward Oskar Tilly scored all three goals as LIU defeated Robert Morris for the second straight year in the semi-finals. Tilly opened the scoring at 14:26, converting a penalty kick after teammate David Schofield was taken down the box by Colonial Joe DiBuono. The Fist Team All NEC forward struck again at 36:49, after stealing a pass in RMU territory. He dished to Jermaine Samuels, and knocked in Samuels' return pass from eight yards away. With the Colonials pressing late in the game, Tilly won a ball deep in Robert Morris territory and chipped a nine-yarder into the far right corner of the net. LIU outshot RMU, 16-10, and Blackbird freshman netminder Ryszard Gorksi made three saves to record the shutout. In the nightcap, UMBC and FDU battled for 110 minutes with neither team being able to dent the net. UMBC had the better of the scoring opportunities, but a Marcus Gross redirect off a corner kick hit the crossbar late in the first half, and Derek McElligott's one-on-one chance was thwarted in the first 25 seconds of the second half by FDU netminder Andrew Nucifora. FDU's best chance came with just over three minutes to play, as Dirceu Hurtado's shot of a cross hit the side of the net. In penalty kicks, Nucifora got the visitors off to a good start when he made a diving save of McElligott's first attempt. FDU went up 3-2 on conversions by Hurtado, Orce Kozeski, and Mathieu Savaria and prevaield when Alex Wilmot's attempt for UMBC was wide left. The Knights are now 6-0-2 vs. UMBC since the Retrievers joined the NEC and are the only team with a winning record vs. the Retrievers. Last season, FDU defeated LIU, 2-1, in the fourth overtime period to win the league title. The Knights would advance to the NCAA quarter-finals before falling to eventual champion North Carolina, in three overtime periods. AGATEGAME 1: #1 LIU 3, #4 Robert Morris 0Scoring: L-Oskar Tilly (penalty kick) 14::26; L-Tilly (Jermaine Samuels) 36:49; L-Tilly (unassisted) 86:25. Goalkeeping: R-Mike Ozdinec 3 saves (3ga, 90 min.); L-Ryszard Gorski 3 saves (0ga, 90 min.). Shots: R-10, L-16. Corners: R-6, L-6. Fouls: R-12, L-14. Offsides: R-2, L-0. Halftime: LIU 2, RMU 0.GAME 2: #3 FDU 0, #2 UMBC 0, 2ot (FDU advances on penalty kicks, 3-2)Scoring: None. Goalkeeping: F-Andrew Nucifora 4 saves (0ga, 110 min.) UM-Brian Rowland 6 saves (0ga, 110 min). Shots: F-12, UM-10. Corners: F-3, UM-7. Fouls: F-15, UM-26. Offsides: F-2, UM-2. Penalty Kicks: Round 1 (McElligott, UMBC, no good, Hurtado, FDU, good). Round 2 (Gross, UMBC, good, Kozeski, FDU, good). Round 3: (Pennacchia, UMBC, good, Savaria, FDU, good). Round 4: (McGowan, UMBC, no good, Paye, FDU, no good). Round 5; (Wilmot, UMBC, no good).