Kozeski’s Penalty Kick Goal In 4^th Overtime Gives Fairleigh Dickinson NEC Title
Knights advance to NCAA Tourney by winning longest tournament game in NEC history.

Hamden, conn. – Senior midfielder Orce Kozeski (Garfield, N.J.) scored on a penalty kick with 8:01 remaining in the fourth overtime to lift the Fairleigh Dickinson University men’s soccer team to a thrilling 2-1 win over Long Island in the Northeast Conference tournament final.  It is the Knights’ second straight NEC Tournament crown and in the process they earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament bid since 1989.  Fairleigh Dickinson is the first team since St. Francis (NY) in 1995-96 to repeat as tournament champions.  The game, which lasted 141:59, was the longest in NEC men’s soccer championship history.

Kozeski opened the scoring at 27:14 of the first half, also on a penalty kick.  Just 2:07 later, Oskar Tilly (Karlstad, Sweden) answered with a goal for Long Island, knotting the game at 1-1.

After a scoreless second half, both teams had opportunities in the extra frames but both goalkeepers came up with big saves.  Senior Vytautas Lenkutis (Vilnius, Lithuania) stopped seven shots on the day for the Knights, while Eric Masters (Carmel, Ind.) made three saves for the Blackbirds.

Finally in the last overtime, junior forward Aaron Paye (Brooklyn Center, Minn.) was pulled down in the box and Kozeski buried his second penalty kick of the game to give the Knights the title.

“It’s tough to win back-to-back championships, but this one feels great,” said Knights’ head coach Seth Roland.  “They’re keeper came up big twice and Vytas had a big save for us in between.  You just don’t know what’s going to happen in a game like that and you have to persevere.  Every time we came in the huddle we talked about how champions find a way to win and our guys our worthy champions.  LIU is a very good team. They played a great game and I have to give them a lot of credit for competing very well in the championship game.”

Senior forward Brian Romero (Paterson, N.J.) was named NEC Tournament MVP for the Knights.  “Brian was the heart and soul of this team this weekend,” said Roland.

The Knights, winners of seven straight games and 10 of the last 11, will play their NCAA Tournament first round contest on November 23^rd.  They will find out who their opponent will be on Monday, November 19^th, when the pairings are announced.

                                               1^st    2^nd   OT1   OT2  OT3  OT4       F
Long Island (8-7-4)                   1        0       0        0       0      0    -     1
Fairleigh Dickinson (14-6-0)      1        0       0       0       0       1    -     2

Scoring
27:14       FDU – Orce Kozeski (penalty kick)
29:21       LIU – Oskar Tilly (Matt Paradise)
141:59     FDU – Orce Kozeski (penalty kick)

Shots:  FDU – 14; LIU – 18
Corners:  FDU – 0; LIU – 10
Saves:  FDU – Vytautas Lenkutis 7 sv/141 min, 59 sec
              LIU – Eric Masters  3 sv/141 min, 59 sec         
Fouls:  FDU – 29; LIU – 34
Yellow Cards:  FDU – Orce Kozeski; LIU – Oskar Tilly, Eric Suarez; Red Cards:  FDU – Eugene Ferrara; LIU – Kristoffer Engdahl

* * * KNIGHTS * * * 

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