Long Island Advances to NEC Title Match With Shootout Win Over St. Francis (PA)

(boxscore)

11/12/04 -- Third-seeded Long Island advanced to the Northeast Conference final for the third time in four seasons with a thrilling shootout victory over No. 2 seed St. Francis (PA) following a 1-1 semifinal tie in Teaneck, N.J.

LIU (8-6-4) will face host and top-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson for the championship Sunday at 12:00 pm and an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Knights defeated the Blackbirds in the 2001 final in four overtimes and the following season in a shootout. The meeting marks the third time in four years the two programs have met in the final.

The Blackbirds are seeking their first NEC title since 1997 and first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1986.

Both teams made each of their first six kicks in the shootout with senior goalkeeper Ryszard Gorski (Aberdeenshire, Scotland), senior Jonas Stigh (Trollhattan, Sweden), senior Josh Couvillion (New Orleans, La.), senior Eduardo Molina (Quebec, Canada), graduate student Ricardo Ordain (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and sophomore Szymon Hryszczyk (Warsaw, Poland) scoring for LIU.

Cesar Pena, Bernie Showers, Bryce Luetzen, Gary Burke, Bob Weney and Jeremy Tice each tallied for the Red Flash (10-6-3).

Junior Mustapha Ayoub (Toronto, Ontario) buried his pentitley kick past goalie Bobby Pipech to give LIU a 7-6 lead and Gorski, tabbed first team All-NEC, ended it with a diving save of Scott Thompson’s attempt.

Stigh, named first team All-NEC for the second time, scored his first goal of the season and seventh career to give LIU a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute. Senior David Ledet (Houma, La.) launched a free kick from the right side into a crowd and the ball made its way to Stigh, who booted it in.

The Blackbirds played tenacious defense and looked for the shutout before the Red Flash spoiled things in the 84th minute. Thompson broke free on the end line and sent a short cross in front where Andrew Stephens slashed through to fire a header into the lower left corner.

Both teams had two shots in overtime and several other good chances. Stigh had his header in the 92nd minute saved by reserve keeper Simon Fox and Ayoub’s cross off a Red Flash defender was stopped in the 96th minute. Thompson looked to assist on a possible game-winner in the 107th minute, but his cross was denied by Gorski’s diving stop.

Thompson closed with three shots to help the Red Flash post an 8-4 edge. Stigh and sophomore Omer Rozen (Hashofet, Israel) were credited with two shots apiece for LIU.