Saint Francis University Athletics

Flash Points: 

• Troye Kiernan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) knocked in a Brendan McGhee (Pickering, Ontario, Canada/St. Mary's Catholic) free kick in the 77th minute
• Saint Francis out shot LIU 16-4
• Marcus Rojas (Fremont, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory) tied an SFU record with his 10th shutout on the season

BROOKLYN, N.Y.-  Troye Kiernan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) found space in traffic and scored his fourth goal of the season and the Red Flash shutout the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds 1-0 to advance to Sunday's Northeast Conference title match. 

It is the seventh time in program history and third-straight season that the Red Flash have made the conference title game. Saint Francis is now 7-2 all-time in the tournament semi-finals. 

Saint Francis came out as the aggressor on a blustery day at Brooklyn Bridge Park. In the sixth minute, Dominic Ramirez (Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop) rang a shot off the post and moments later LIU keeper Logan Keys denied Stefan Sjekloca (Belgrade, Serbia/Fryeburg Academy). Saint Francis had chances in the first half, out shooting LIU 10-3 but could not score. Kiernan nearly made it 1-0 in the 33rd minute connecting on a shot off a corner kick. The blast made its way through traffic and Keys guessed correctly, diving towards the far post to make a sprawling save. SFU keeper Marcus Rojas was called on twice in the first half as stopped Naeem Charles on a pair of shots. Charles' second shot forced Rojas to dive backward to tip a low shot passed the far post. The teams would be scoreless at the half. 

The second half saw both teams trying to navigate the windy conditions, as much of the play was in the middle of the field. Both teams picked times to push offensively. Kiernan had a shot blocked down by the LIU defense and Mario Mastrangelo (Venetia, Pa/Peters Township) missed high on one shot and was stopped by Keys on another. It was a physical match that saw 20 fouls and nine cards and the Red Flash were finally able to break through off an LIU foul. Brendan McGhee (Pickering, Ontario, Canada/St. Mary's Catholic) took a free kick from just inside the near corner and sent his cross into the box. The loose ball found Kiernan in traffic who muscled his way free and got the ball through traffic, by Keys and into the middle of the net. 

The Saint Francis defense then went to work, protecting the one goal lead. SFU limited the Blackbirds to just one shot from distance, easily stopped by Rojas. The Red Flash were able to counter back off the pressing LIU offense and Mario Mastrangelo (Venetia, Pa/Peters Township) found himself on a breakaway. After getting by Keys, the sophomore's shot was blocked off the line by a frantic LIU defense. LIU Brooklyn had one last mad dash for a goal, earning a pair of corner kicks in the match's final 20 seconds. The first was cleared away by the SFU defense and time expired before LIU could do anything with the second. 

It is the second time this season the Red Flash have shut out the league's top scoring team. SFU blanked LIU 3-0 on October 16th in Loretto. They out shot the Blackbirds 16-4 including 5-3 in shots on goal and had a narrow 6-5 edge in corner kicks. The victory improves the Red Flash to 12-5-2 on the season while LIU ends their season at 10-6-2. Sunday's title match will be against the winner of St. Francis Brooklyn and Sacred Heart on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Brooklyn Bridge Park.