WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (Nov. 3, 2006) – Junior midfielder Jeremy Tice (Littleton, Colo. / Chatfield) scored his first goal of the season from eight yards out at 105 minutes, 10 seconds to give the No. 3 seed Saint Francis men’s soccer team a thrilling 1-0 double overtime victory over No. 2 Fairleigh Dickinson Friday afternoon in a Northeast Conference semifinal match on the Great Lawn, at Monmouth University.
It is the first-ever conference tournament win for the Red Flash, who advance to play tournament-host, and No. 1 seed, Monmouth at 12 p.m. on Sunday. That match can be heard live on the internet at www.radio.francis.edu. The Hawks, who are ranked 15th in the most recent NSCAA/adidas national coaches poll, defeated No. 4 Robert Morris 3-0 on Friday to earn a spot in the conference title tilt.
With the win, Saint Francis tied the single-season school record with 10 wins. The Red Flash improved to 10-6-3 on the year, an identical record to the 2004 season.
“That was a great win against a Top-50 team,” said Saint Francis head coach B.J. Craig. “FDU makes the game very difficult, and they make it very hard to score goals. I give them a lot of credit. I just think at the end of the day, the difference was our work rate coming down the stretch.”
Saint Francis controlled much of the action throughout the second half of the match, but couldn’t put it away until Tice one-touched a ball into the top right corner of the net. Junior defender Bryce Luetzen (Denver, Colo. / Denver Lutheran) assisted on the goal with a beautiful cross from left to right inside the 18-yard box, giving Tice a clear shot at the back of the net.
“On the goal, we thought that it was just a matter of time,” said Craig, who has led the Red Flash to three consecutive winning seasons, the only three winning seasons in program history. “Bryce is probably one of the most underrated fullbacks in the league. He has a game-winning goal, he hit the game-tying goal against Central Connecticut State last Friday to help send us here to the NECs, and he had the game-tying assist today. The captain, as he has been doing all year, stepped up again. For Jeremy, it’s a great goal. He is one of the hardest working guys on the team, and he is a 90-minute guy every game. With all the hard work that he does it was a much deserving goal.”
The goal was just the second of Tice’s career, and the first game-winner. Sophomore goalkeeper Brad Williams (San Lorenzo, Calif. / Arroyo) stopped four shots to record his seventh shutout of the year, tying former Red Flash player Bobby Pipech for the single-season school record.
The Red Flash outshot Fairleigh Dickinson 12-8 in the match, while both teams registered two corner kicks.
Saint Francis sophomore midfielder Aaron Clapham (Christchurch, New Zealand / Aranui) had several good scoring chances in the match, but Knights goalkeepers made three great saves. Had had a total of five shots on the day.
His first good chance came just over five minutes into the match when junior defender Jarron Brooks (Mitchellville, Md. / Archbishop Carroll) sent a perfect cross into the 18-yard box. Clapham one-touched the ball targeted for the lower left corner, but FDU goalkeeper Elvir Prasovic made an unbelievable diving save to preserve the scoreless match.
Clapham almost scored the game-winner in the final 90 seconds of the match. With 1:17 remaining in regulation, he one-touched another ball that backup goalkeeper Tomer Chencinski made another diving save on. The rebound came out to senior forward Scott Thompson (Durham, England / Lanchester Saint Bedes), whose header hit the crossbar. Just 15 seconds later, Clapham found the ball at his feet again and put another strong shot on net, but Chencinski against made a diving save to send the match into overtime.
Williams had his hands full as well, facing three shots in the first two halves, and two more in the first overtime. He stopped made a terrific leaping save of a Donny Mayard header at 61:15 to keep the game scoreless. Then at 96:27, Fabrizio Trezza had a clear shot at the net, trying to go from left to right, but Williams was up to the task, making a diving save.
The Red Flash improved to 1-1 all-time in the Northeast Conference Tournament. This is their first appearance in the post-season since 2004 when Craig led the squad to its first-ever post-season berth in just his second season. Saint Francis is looking for its first Northeast Conference championship, while the Hawks will be gunning for their second, and first since 1990.
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