EXPRESS SEND MUSTANGS PACKING; ADVANCE TO QUARTERFINALS
| Final | 1 | 2 | OT | OT2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Morrisville St. (3-14-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Wells (7-12) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Aurora, NY– Alioune Sene (Dakar, Senegal) scored on a penalty shot in double-overtime as the #7 seed Wells College (7-12) defeated the #10 seed Morrisville State (3-14-1) 1-0 in the first-round of the North Eastern Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament on Tuesday afternoon at Wells. Express goalie Mike Birklin (Cicero) finished with seven saves in the shutout victory while Mustang goalie Joe Bunzey (Afton) finished with six saves in the loss. The Express move on to face the #2 seed SUNY IT Wildcats (12-6) in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, November 5th at 11:30 a.m. at Wells. The Express defeated the Wildcats in the regular season by a score of 2-1 back on October 3rd at Wells.
Both teams battled for possession in the first half with the Express escaping a few scares from the Mustangs. Sanley Pierre-Louis (Nyack) would have his shot hit the post in the 32nd minute and again the Mustangs would hit iron in the 43rd minute on a shot by Chris Dickey (Marcellus) as the Express faithful held their collective breaths heading into the break.
The second half would be a back and forth battle as the Express defense frustrated the Mustangs, who despite firing 12 shots, managed just three on goal as both teams remained scoreless through the first 90-minutes.
Wells would have their best scoring opportunity of the game come in the first overtime as Patrick Arancio (Clinton)streaked in from the right side of the goal blasting a shot from 10-yards out as the ball went past the outstretched fingers of Mustang goalie Joe Bunzey missing just wide left of the goal. The Express controlled much of the first overtime outshooting the Mustangs 4-2.
It wasn't until early in the second overtime, with the Express pressuring deep inside Mustang territory, that Sene would be fouled inside the 18, resulting in a penalty shot. With a small stutter step, Sene blasted his shot past Bunzey into the lower right corner of the goal sending the Express to a quarterfinal match-up with SUNY IT.
The Mustangs outshot the Express 23-16 while both teams finished with four corner kicks. The victory marks the first time the Wells men's soccer team has won a playoff game while also setting the program record for wins in a season with seven.
