New Haven, Conn. – The 7^th seed Le Moyne College men's soccer team delivered a gutsy performance on the road in the 2022 Northeast-10 Conference Championships Quarterfinals to earn a 3-2 victory over the 2^nd seed Southern Connecticut State University Owls in double overtime to advance to the conference tournament semifinals on Saturday.

Noah Sperduto (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira) scored his second goal of the season early in the second half to open the game's scoring, then freshman Cameron Stuart (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley) added to his impressive season goal tally in the 65^th minute to give Le Moyne a promising 2-0 advantage.

After the Owls were able to claw their way back into the game and send it to overtime with two second-half goals of their own, Jack Goodrich (Kelsall, England/King's School Chester) earned a penalty kick then scored it himself to put the 'Phins on top for good in the first overtime period.

"I am very proud of the boys. They showed tremendous character and grit to get the win today," said Le Moyne head coach Tom Bonus.

Goodrich, goalkeeper Josh Mahr (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius), center back Ben Quigley (Perth, Scotland/Community School of Auchterarder/University of Stirling), center midfielder Tom Henne (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Buckhorn), center midfielder Terence Crysler-Howard (Toronto, Ontario/Toronto Prep School) and David Bosak (Marcellus, N.Y./Marcellus/Onondaga C.C.) each played the full 110 minutes during the game, while Sperduto played 107 minutes, Stuart played 100, freshman Jackson Card (McGraw, N.Y./McGraw) played 107 minutes, Max Van Duin (Noordwijk, Netherlands/Teylingen College Leeuwenhorst/Free University of Amsterdam) played 104 minutes, and Alessandro Otte (Suderburg, Germany/Herzog-Ernst-Gymnasium Uelzen/Hochschule Wismar) – the only member of the Le Moyne starting lineup not to log over 100 minutes during the match – played the first 94 minutes of the game at center back, a position he had not played this season until two of Le Moyne's three center backs went down with injuries.

Bosak started the game at right back – a position he has not played previously this season – in the absence of Brett Stern (Lockport, N.Y./Newfane/Duquesne), who has played over 1,200 minutes in 2022 at the right back/right wing back positions.

Le Moyne's graduate goalkeeper Josh Mahr matched his season-high save tally of eight during the 3-2 win. Six of Mahr's eight saves came during the two overtime periods.

In the 25^th minute the Owls intercepted a pass in Le Moyne's half of the field and went on a quick counterattack down the left wing.

Southern Connecticut State forward Raffaele Ciarleglio got the ball in the left side of Le Moyne's penalty area, then sent a pass to his right for Murphy Malone. The pass was slightly behind Malone, so he had to stop on a dime and settle the ball before taking a shot at the edge of the six-yard box with his left foot. Malone's shot got past Mahr and was heading for the right side of the net, but Quigley was positioned perfectly to deflect the ball away from the goal and out of bounds for a corner kick.

With just over two and a half minutes remaining in the first half, Henne retrieved a loose ball at the edge of Le Moyne's attacking third in the middle-left portion of the field and found some space in front of him. Le Moyne's graduate midfielder weaved between two SCSU defenders before taking a shot with his right foot about 20 yards away from goal. The ball was driven low with pace, and Southern Connecticut State goalkeeper Devin Juan dove to his right to block the shot. The ball popped up the air and was set to land about 12 yards from the goal line. Sperduto was the first one to it, but he had two defenders right on his back. Sperduto tried to volley the ball with his right foot, but the height of the ball combined with his forward momentum and contact from the SCSU defenders caused him to fall while his shot went wide of the right post.

Le Moyne did not use a single substitute during the first half, and only used a total of two reserve players during the entire 110 minutes of action. The team has endured a significant amount of injuries to key players throughout the season. Five of the players that started in Le Moyne's first NE10 Conference game of the 2022 campaign were unavailable for Saturday's NE10 Championships match against the Owls.

The Dolphins made their first substitution of the match in the 66^th minute when Owen Bauer (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker/UNC Asheville) entered the game, and then DJ Taylor (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker/SUNY Brockport) entered the game for the first time at the beginning of the first overtime period in place of Otte and played the final 16 minutes of the game at center back.

Jackson Card earned the 'Phins a corner kick in the 54^th minute, and Goodrich jogged to the right corner flag to take it.

The redshirt sophomore defender drove the ball into the box with his left foot, and Henne was able to put a powerful header on goal at the far post. Henne's shot was blocked on the goal line by a Southern Connecticut State defender, but Sperduto was there to collect the rebound and poke the ball into the bottom left corner of the net to give the 'Phins a 1-0 lead.

Less than 10 minutes later the Dolphins had possession in the right side of their attacking third while the Owls were trying hard to clear the danger. Van Duin blocked an attempted outlet pass to the wing, and Crysler-Howard hit the ball back to him just outside the right side of SCSU's penalty area. Van Duin took a touch towards the goal line and was brought down by a Southern Connecticut State defender, earning the 'Phins a free kick in a dangerous spot.

Goodrich stood behind the ball for Le Moyne, and hit a curling shot towards the top shelf of the net with his left foot. Juan blocked the shot and sent the ball flying back into the middle of the penalty area. Stuart was there to volley the ball out of the air with his left foot and smash it into the left side of the net to record his team-leading sixth goal of the season and give the Dolphins a 2-0 lead with 25:40 remaining in the second half.

Although the No. 2-seeded Owls were in a deep hole, they had reason to believe that they could get back into the game.

Earlier this year in regular season action the Dolphins held a 2-0 second-half lead over the Owls on Jess Dow Field, but SCSU scored in the 57^th minute and then again in the 74^th minute to come away with a 2-2 draw in conference play.

This time around the Owls scored their first goal of the game in the 66^th minute, just over a minute after Le Moyne went up 2-0, when Umberto Catale headed home a free kick delivery from Karim Said.
 
Le Moyne had a couple chances to extend their lead back out to two goals. In the 71^st minute Stuart collected a long pass in the left side of Le Moyne's attacking third, then the freshman forward dribbled along the top of the 18-yard box towards the middle of the field. Stuart dribbled into the right side of the box and then tried to cut back to his left, but a SCSU defender was able to poke the ball away. The ball rolled to the top of the box, and Crysler-Howard ran onto it with the intention of putting a shot on goal. Crysler-Howard's first touch was a shot with his right foot that skipped towards the bottom left corner of the net. Juan dove to his left and was able to smother the ball and record the save.

Less than two minutes later Goodrich stepped up from the back line to intercept a pass near midfield, then carried the ball all the way to the left side of SCSU's penalty area before taking a shot with his left foot that was caught by Juan at his near post.

With two minutes left in the second half SCSU was pressed forward looking for the equalizer. Arnold Signell played a long ball into the box from the right side of the field, and SCSU's Karim Said was all alone at the back post. Mahr went over to challenge him, but Said got to the ball first, rose high in the air, knocked Mahr to the ground and put his header into the net to tie the game at 2-2.

Mahr recorded two of his eight total saves during the first four minutes of the first overtime period to keep the match tied at 2-2.

In the 99^th minute of the match, Le Moyne had the ball in their attacking third of the field. The ball moved to the left side of the field, where a nice give-and-go between Goodrich and Stuart put Goodrich on a run with the ball in the left side of SCSU's penalty area. Goodrich cut back to his right to get rid of one defender, then lunged to get a touch on the ball while being challenged by a second Southern Connecticut State defender. There was some contact from the SCSU defender as Goodrich fell to the ground, and the referee awarded Le Moyne a penalty kick with 1:18 remaining in the first overtime period.

Goodrich took the kick for Le Moyne and he drove the ball into the right side of the net with his left foot while the goalkeeper dove the opposite direction.

Mahr made four saves during the final 10 minute overtime period and the Dolphins came away with a 3-2 victory on the road to advance to the Semifinals of the 2022 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Soccer Championships.

The team will play their semifinals match on Wednesday, November 2. The Dolphins will travel to No. 6-seeded Adelphi to take on the Panthers. Le Moyne won the matchup between the two sides during the regular season by a score of 3-0 on Ted Grant Field. The match will be the fifth meeting between Le Moyne and Adelphi in the NE10 Men's Soccer Championships since Adelphi joined the conference in 2013.

All four of the previous conference tournament contests between the two programs were played in Garden City, and all four games resulted in Adelphi victories. Le Moyne has fared well in regular season contests played at Adelphi. The Dolphins are 3-1 in the regular season all-time against the Panthers when playing in Garden City.