Senior co-captain Shane Recklet's goal in the final round of penalty kicks with St. Francis sent the Quinnipiac University men's soccer team to its first ever Northeast Conference Championship Game. The senior midfielder put a shot into the lower right corner to give Quinnipiac a 4-3 advantage in penalty kicks after they played to a 1-1 tie with St. Francis through regulation and two overtime periods at Monmouth's Great Lawn in the second NEC semifinal of the day. The win was the first in postseason play in program history for Quinnipiac.
Senior goalkeeper Hall made two saves in the round of penalty kicks, stopping the first and last shot he faced. His save on St. Francis' Anthony Matos in the last round gave Recklet the opportunity to score the game winner for Quinnipiac. Hall had been guessing the shooting side correctly against three of the first four shooters and against Matos he did so again, making a diving save to his right.
Hall ended the game with a season high in saves, stopping 14 shots in 110 minutes of action before turning aside three St. Francis players penalty kicks. St. Francis' Chris Antonino only made three saves in the game and none on penalty kicks as St. Francis outshot Quinnipiac, 23-8, in the game.
Neither team would score again in regulation or overtime. During the two extra sessions, both Quinnipiac and St. Francis played cautiously, keeping the ball at midfield for much of the extra 20 minutes. This style of play resulted in limited scoring opportunities for Quinnipiac, while St. Francis put two shots on Hall in each overtime period.
Junior Johan Karlhagen scored the first penalty kick goal for Quinnipiac on a shot to the upper right corner. Junior Dominic Adams followed with a shot that sailed over the net before Pereira scored with a shot to the middle of the goal on his penalty kick opportunity. Junior defender and All-NEC First Team member Pierre Soubrier scored Quinnipiac’s third penalty kick goal with a shot that hit the crossbar and ricocheted into the goal. Hall stopped Nikocevic on St. Francis’ first opportunity and Matos on the final shot, allowing Recklet to score the winner.
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