MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – In a confluence of strange circumstances mounting around the Northern Kentucky University men's soccer team, perseverance won the day as the Norse advanced to the NCAA Division II national semifinals for the first time in school history after closing out a 1-1 draw against Millersville with a 5-4 penalty-kick shootout victory.
The Norse (16-2-4) dominated the first 10 minutes of action, outshooting the Marauders (18-3-1) by a 3-1 margin over the span before MU picked up and turned it into the back-and-forth match the near 1,000 in attendance would enjoy on the evening. Both teams worked the ball deep into the opposing territory effectively, with six corner kicks taken between the two teams in the game's first 30 minutes. But the defenses were strong, turning away the set pieces again and again.
It wasn't until the 34th minute that the Norse would draw first blood. After a throw-in 35 yards from the end line, Alex Allison picked up a pass and sent a high service into the penalty area for the waiting head of Braden Bishop, who flicked the ball on past MU's Matt Langione for his eighth goal of the season and the early 1-0 lead for the Norse.
NKU continued to pressure the play and ended the first half with an 8-2 shot advantage.
Millersville came out on fire to begin the second stanza, drawing an early barrage of foul calls against the Norse to create a pair of solid shot attempts in the first seven minutes of the half. The pressure continued into the 60th minute, when MU's Sean McLaughlin made a strong run up the right side for a service in front of the NKU net, where Ryan Kiley was set up for a deadly header attempt that Michael Lavric just pushed over the crossbar.
On the ensuing corner kick try, Dan Prian had another strong opportunity from 15 yards, but Lavric was up to the test once again, turning the shot aside to set up another corner, this time stopping a Pat Baffuto shot to help push play back into the MU end.
Play continued in the midfield during the latter part of the second half as NKU began to take a defensive stance in an effort to protect the one goal lead, a strategy that bode well for the Norse leading into the final six minutes of the game, when the Marauders found the chink in NKU's armor.
After pushing the ball deep once more to force a corner kick, Kiley pushed his service long of the NKU net, where McLaughlin tracked the ball down for a second try. This time the pass found its mark, the head of MU's Shane Seabrook, which glanced off Lavric's crossbar and into the net for his fourth marker of the season to draw the game even with 5:57 left in the second half.
The Marauders continued to pour on pressure in the closing moments of the second half and on into extra time, but neither team could find a solution before taking the game to penalty kicks.
Fortune smiled on the Norse early in the shootout when Matthew Procopio's opening salvo went outside of the left goalpost, giving NKU an opening. Braden Bishop responded by burying his try to give the Norse the early advantage.
Kiley and Mike Jonca followed suit in the second round, converting their attempts to keep the margin at one. Chris Dobrowolski followed for the Norse, taking the shootout position typically occupied by Steven Beattie, who was unavailable for Saturday's contest. The defender blasted a shot hard to the left side that found the twine to make it a 3-2 tally after three rounds.
McLaughlin for MU, Dustin Downey for NKU and Neil Peterson for MU each converted to make it a 4-4 shootout entering NKU's final shot once again taken by senior defender Tony Ray, who's penalty try was the deciding factor in NKU's 4-3 shootout victory over Lewis in the Midwest Region championship.
Ray lined up his shot and put it inside the left post to close out the shootout in a 5-4 victory for the Norse.
The result means the Norse remain winless against nationally ranked teams this season (0-1-4), though two of those draws resulted in advancement in the NCAA Tournament. Also, the four ties in 2008 mark a new club record. NKU had recorded three draws in a season on three separate occasions, most recently in 2006.
Also, NKU played its seventh overtime game on Saturday to equal a team record.
NKU now advances to the NCAA national semifinals on Dec. 5 at Pepin Stadium in Tampa, Fla., and will face the winner of Sunday's match between Dowling and Massachusettes-Lowell. The national championship game will be held on Dec. 7 at 1:30 p.m. and will be televised on CBS College Sports.
