Nov. 12, 2000
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Sunday's Patriot League Men's Soccer Tournament Final will no doubt be added to the list of the epic Lafayette-Lehigh battles. The Leopards and the Mountain Hawks went back and forth for 150 minutes before penalty kicks determined that Lehigh would advance to the NCAA Tournament.
It's the second straight season that Lafayette's NCAA Tournament hopes ended in penalty kick sessions, this season by a score of 5-3. The Leopards faced a similar outcome in 1999, as UMBC outshot Lafayette 6-5 following 150 minutes of scoreless soccer in an NCAA Tournament Play-in game. This season, the Patriot League receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
The two teams battled through a scoreless first half, but the offensive action heated up in the second half. Lehigh's Evan Bruno had a goal wiped off at 75:32 on an offsides call. Lafayette scored just under three minutes later as senior All-Patriot League defender Mike Gualtieri (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) collected a corner kick with a header and blasted home a shot from six yards out.
Lafayette appeared to be in control of the game as the final minutes ticked down, but a crucial call by the referee under 20 seconds remaining in the game would significantly affect the outcome. Referee Nate Clement whistled Lafayette for a foul and signalled for the clock to be stopped because he felt Lafayette was stalling. The direct kick resulted in Andrew Soisson catching the ball with his chest and subsequently booting it in amidst a box crowded with Lafayette defenders. The goal that was assisted by Dan Perciballi and Andrew Casey came at 89:51.
With the game tied, the two teams headed to overtime. Neither team could muster much on the offensive end in the first two 15-minute overtime sessions. In the third overtime period, Lehigh's Doug Cusick headed a shot of the crossbar and over the top of the goal.
In the fourth overtime, Cusick again had a shot to end the game, but a diving stop by Lafayette senior keeper Drew Stotler (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) kept the Leopards' chances intact. Lafayette had a scoring opportunity of its own as sophomore Paulo Coelho (Whippany, N.J./Whippany Park) headed a shot on goal that was stopped by Lehigh keeper Ryan Greszczak.
The game went into penalty kicks and was tied 3-3 after each team had sent three players to the line in the five-round competition. Lehigh, which had gone first in each of the rounds, converted its fourth kick. Stotler appeared to get his hand on that shot as he had done on Lehigh's second kick, but could not slow the shots enough to keep them from finding the back of the net. The next Lafayette shooter was Gualtieri whose shot missed just wide left of the goal. Soisson made his kick to put the final penalty kick margin at 5-3.
The outcome of the game is scored as a 1-1 tie, with the penalty kicks not counting in the final score or the individual statistics.
Lafayette finishes the regular season 8-10-1 having won a Patriot League regular-season title. Lehigh improves to 12-5-3 and will await its opponent in the NCAA Tournament.
