BOX SCORE Flash Points:
- Tulio Canineu (Corbin, Ky/Corbin) scored in the 40th minute
- Marcus Rojas (Fremont, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory) made two saves for his ninth shutout
- SFU clinched the second seed in the NEC tournament
MOON TOWNSHIP, PA- Tulio Canineu finished off a
Brendan McGhee (Pickering, Ontario, Canada/St. Mary's Catholic) cross and
Marcus Rojas (Fremont, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory) made a pair of saves as the Flash closed our the regular season with a 1-0 win at Robert Morris on Sunday.
Sunday's match did not see a lot of action early on as neither team registered a shot for the first 15 minutes. SFU earned a pair of corner kicks off a blocked shot from
Nicco Mastrangelo (Venetia, Pa/Peters Township) but
Mario Mastrangelo (Venetia, Pa/Peters Township)'s header off the second corner sailed wide.
Marcus Rojas (Fremont, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory) made his only save of the first half in the 24th minute as Lucas Puntillo fired off a shot at the senior keeper. That started a Colonial push towards goal as the SFU defense stood tall, blocking down a pair of RMU shots. In the 38th minute, the Flash again began to pressure. Canineu's shot was stopped by RMU keeper Winter Fondi. Two minutes later, Canineu had another opportunity and did not miss, converting a McGhee pass into a low shot that skipped by Fondi and into the low right corner. The Red Flash would take that 1-0 lead into the half.
In the second half, the Flash continued to press, looking for their second goal. Both
Mario Mastrangelo (Venetia, Pa/Peters Township) and
Troye Kiernan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) missed high with shots early on. The Flash nearly had their second goal in the 55th minute as
Brendan McGhee (Pickering, Ontario, Canada/St. Mary's Catholic) was stopped by Fondi on a diving stop. The ensuing corner kick saw Mastrangelo again miss just high on a shot. SFU thought they had their second goal of the game in the 83rd minute as
Renan Fuentes (Sao Paolo, Brazil/Colegio Joao XXIII)' shot beat Fondi but was cleared off the line by the RMU defense. The SFU back line bottled up the Robert Morris attack on Sunday, holding them without a shot in the second half until the 85th minute when Rojas stopped Rafael Bruzual. It was the only shot RMU got in the final 45 as SFU secured their 11th win of the season.
The victory improves SFU to 11-5-2 overall and 4-1-2 in the NEC while Robert Morris ends their season at 4-11-2 overall and 1-5-2 in the NEC. Saint Francis out shot Robert Morris 13-5 and 6-2 in shots on goal. The win secures the Red Flash the second overall seed in next weekend's NEC tournament to be hosted by Saint Francis Brooklyn. The Red Flash will take on defending NEC champion LIU Brooklyn on Friday at Brooklyn Bridge Park at a time to be determined.
