Wesleyan Ties WNEC 1-1, Advances On Penalty Kicks 5-4
Courtesy Wesleyan Sports Information
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Wesleyan University (12-1-5) advanced to the NCAA Sectional round for the first time in program history, getting past visiting Western New England College (16-5-4), 5-4 on penalty kicks, after the teams played to a 1-1 tie after 110 minutes of action. Wesleyan moves on to face the University of Rochester (13-1-3) in a sectional semifinal at Messiah College in Gratham, Pa. next weekend while Messiah takes on John Hopkins in the other sectional matchup.
Wesleyan and WNEC matched each other toe-to-toe throughout the contest as WNEC took the lead in the 36th minute on a header by junior Kienan Garn following a Golden Bear corner kick. Wesleyan initially tried to clear the ball with a header, but it stayed in the goal area and was headed by WNEC junior Alex Dos Santos to the left where Garn made good forward contact on the ball. It sailed over Cardinal netminder freshman Adam Purdy, giving Garn his second goal of the season. The lead stood up for less than 14 minutes as Wesleyan struck back early in the second half. Freshman Rory O’Neill also netted his second goal of the campaign, following up a shot by senior Keisuke Yamashita, which WNEC senior keeper Kyle Bak stopped with both hands from about 10 yards out. But the ball stayed in play and O’Neill got to it first and pushed it into the goal to even the count in the 50th minute. Just a minute earlier, Wesleyan senior Asante Brooks came within a whisker of tying the contest but Bak, who came into the game ranked among the top-10 nationally for both save percentage (.911) and goals-against average (0.46), made a tremendous diving stop to his left even with the upright.
Heading into overtime, the Cardinals took to the offensive from the outset and over a five-minute stretch, hit flush on the crossbar twice while also clanging a shot off the right goal post, but neither team scored during the extra 20 minutes of play, sending the teams into penalty kicks to decide which team advances.
Wesleyan got the early edge when freshman Walter Rodriguez converted the opening kick low to the right side of the net. Purdy, who finished the game with three saves, made a great stop of senior Tony Rosa’s kick to the right side, pushing the ball into the goal post and away from the net. Each team made good on their next three tries as Brooks came up to take Wesleyan’s fifth attempt. His kick went right at Bak, who had a six-save effort during the game, and the keeper easily kept it out of the goal. Needing to make his try to keep the game alive, WNEC senior Marco Gomes found the back of the net low to the left past Purdy, making it 4-4. Into sudden-victory kicks, O’Neill went first for Wesleyan and made good high to the left. Next up was junior Justin Martins for WNEC and he labeled his drive to the lower right corner, but Purdy guessed right and got two hands on the ball top make the save while fully extended to help Wesleyan advance to the next round. Purdy also was ranked among the top-10 nationally in save percentage (.914) and goals-against average (0.40) coming into the contest.
It was the fifth-ever meeting between the two teams and second time they faced each other this season. Back on Sept. 20, the squads battled to a 0-0 double-overtime tie in Springfield, Mass. Bak had 11 saves in that contest while Purdy made just two. Wesleyan has a small edge in the series at 2-1-2. Wesleyan is making its third NCAA appearance, having gone 1-1 in both 2005 and 2006. This is the first 2-0 start for the Cardinals in NCAA play. WNEC qualified for its sixth straight NCAA tournament and has made two Sweet 16 appearances (2005 and 2006). WNEC is now 6-4-2 in NCAA play.
