Loretto, Pa. - In a scoreless match that saw six posts and unlimited action, the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (7-8-3, 3-4-2 NEC) defeated the Saint Francis men's soccer team (10-5-1, 7-2 NEC) 3-1 in penalty kicks to advance to Sunday's NEC FInal vs. LIU.

Key Moments

• Saint Francis had the match's first chance. Senior Gabe Quintero (Clarksville, MD/River Hill), making his first career start, whipped in a beautiful ball that was headed inches wide by senior Lucas Canineu (Corbin, Ky/Corbin) from five yards out.
• In the 17th minute, junior Brandon Ott (Spring City, PA/Owen J. Roberts) found himself on the end of a pinpoint cross by junior NEC Player of the Year Lucas Rosa (Atibaia, Brazil/COC Atibaia). The center back rose up to meet the cross and put it on target, but it was tipped over by a sprawling save from Jahmali Waite.
• FDU had its best chance of the half minutes before overtime but Fallou Tounkara headed the ball over an open goal from six yards out.
• Freshmen Felix Tonne (Kolbotn, Norway) and Piet Wesling (Hamburg, Germany) had good chances at goal early in the second half but Tonne sailed his shot wide and Wesling's header went over the bar.
• Freshman Jeff Thielman (Bad Homburg, Germany/NGO Bockenheim) also had a good loock at goal but his crack hit the post.
• The Knights appeared to take the lead in the 66th minute when Diego Arribas beat sophomore goalkeeper Jonas Dieseler (Duesseldorf, Germany/Lessing Berufskolleg) but he was called offside.
• Ville Ahola hit the post fo the Knights minutes later as the game remained scoreless.
• Ott came oh so close again, hitting the post with a free kick in the 78th minute.
• Saint Francis generated the last opportunity of regulation as Tonne sprang free down the right but his shot was at Waite and punched aside.
• Fairleigh Dickinson had the only chance of the first overtime, and it was a good one, but Peter Kozlej rang his strike from 25 yards out off the crossbar.
• The game was all but sealed in the 108th minute when Arribas rounded Dieseler and had a clear path to goal but freshman defender Matt Jones (Swannanoa, New Zealand) saved the day with a block on the goal line as SFU's last line of protection.
• It was Jones who nearly provided more heroics with 40 seconds left in the final overtime sending a shot on goal. It was deflected on its way in and beat Waite to the near post before ricocheting away. Quintero pursued the rebound but his sliding shot went wide.

Penalty Shootout

The Knights scored on all four of their attempts while Waite stopped three of four SFU shots. Rosa was the only SFU player to convert in the third round.

Inside the Box Score

• Saint Francis outshot Fairleigh Dickinson 25-14.
• Shots on goal also tilted toward SFU, 7-4. 
• Corner kicks were 10-8 for SFU.

Notes

• Rosa led all players with seven shots and three shots on goal. Thielman followed with six.
• Saint Francis didn't allow a goal over the final 467 minutes of the season.
• The Red Flash have appeared in the NEC semifinals in eight of the last 10 seasons but are still looking for their first title.