St. Thomas Men's Soccer will host Sun Conference Championship after beating Embry-Riddle, 5-3 on PKs
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - The St. Thomas Men's Soccer team welcomed No. 4 seed Embry-Riddle to campus Wednesday for what would turn out to be a grudge match in the Sun Conference semifinals. The Bobcats prevailed, 5-3 after the match went to penalty kicks.
The match did not live down the hype as six yellow cards were handed out over the course of 110 minutes, with one Eagle being sent off following two cautions. The Eagles struck first as Matthias Klatt put a hard hit ball into the net from nearly 25 yards out. Embry-Riddle took a 1-0 lead into the half.
St. Thomas came out very aggressive in the second, fearing elimination. At one point the Eagles dropped nine players back to defend and deny any Bobcat advances. Finally, with two minutes remaining, Marcelo Loor had a go from 40 yards away and slipped it in just passed the Eagle keeper's outstretched arms. Regulation time ended in a 1-1 tie and the game headed into extras.
Both ten minute golden goal periods ended with no blood and the match headed to penalties. St. Thomas won the toss and elected to go first. Both sides exchanged two goals apiece until Sun Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Aaron Jones stepped up and blocked the Eagle's third try. STU took a 3-2 advantage heading into the fourth round.
Each side hit on their fourth try and the match stood at 4-3. Sophomore Mike Hinden stepped up to ice the game, but was stopped on his initial try. The head official overruled the attempt, saying Embry-Riddle's goalkeeper, Kile Kennedy stepped forward before the ball was struck. By rule, in a penalty situation the keeper is not allowed to move forward or backward before the ball is hit, only side-to-side. Hinden got another attempt and finished with the game-winner.
St. Thomas advances to the Sun Conference Championship where they will face the winner of No. 2 SCAD/No. 3 Northwood. The match will be on campus, Saturday at 2:00 p.m.