Garden City, N.Y. – The No. 7 seed Le Moyne College men's soccer team advanced to the NE10 Championship game after taking down the No. 6 seed Adelphi University Panthers in penalty kicks on Wednesday night.

The two sides were tied 0-0 after the initial 90 minutes, and the score remained the same after two 10-minute overtime periods.

Le Moyne graduate goalkeeper Josh Mahr (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) tallied three saves in regulation and one in overtime to record his fifth shutout of the season, then he recorded three massive saves during the penalty kick shootout to put Le Moyne in position to win on their fourth kick. The shutout is the 21st of his career, which moves him past Tim Mann '05 for fourth on program's career record board.

2022 NE10 Third Team All-Conference selections Jack Goodrich (Kelsall, England/King's School Chester) and Ben Quigley (Perth, Scotland/Community School of Auchterarder/University of Stirling) both converted crucial PKs for the 'Phins, then Terence Crysler-Howard (Toronto, Ontario/Toronto Prep School) scored the fourth penalty kick for Le Moyne to end the match and put the Dolphins through to the NE10 Championship game.

"It was a great team effort tonight," said Le Moyne Head Coach Tom Bonus after the game. "Very proud of the character the boys demonstrated tonight," Bonus added.

It's been a tremendous postseason journey for this Le Moyne team that has withstood many injuries and close losses throughout the 2022 campaign, and now they will have a chance to go head-to-head with the No. 1-ranked team in the country, Franklin Pierce University, for the NE10 title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Adelphi entered the match ranked ninth in the most recent Atlantic/East Super Region rankings, with the top 10 teams in the final super region poll earning a spot in the NCAA Regionals.

Mahr recorded his first save of the match in the 14^th minute after Adelphi's Jesper Mikkelsen made a diagonal run towards goal through the right side of Le Moyne's penalty area.

Mikkelsen hit a shot with his left foot towards the far post, but Mahr dove to his right and blocked the ball with two hands.

Rory Duggan nearly beat Mahr in the 23^rd minute on a right-footed shot from the top of Le Moyne's 18-yard box aimed towards the bottom left corner of the net, but Duggan's shot hit the post and the ball rolled to the right side of Le Moyne's penalty area where Goodrich retrieved it and cleared it away.

With just under 3:30 remaining in the first half, Max Van Duin (Noordwijk, Netherlands/Teylingen College Leeuwenhorst/Free University of Amsterdam) sent a pass ahead into space on the right wing for Cameron Stuart (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley), and the freshman forward used a burst of speed to beat his defender to the ball and cut into the Adelphi penalty area. Adelphi center back Joacim Carhed came over to help stop Stuart, but Stuart was able to take a touch to his left and evade Carhed's initial tackle. After Carhed whiffed on his first attempt, he turned around and made a desperation slide tackle attempt and was able poke the ball and effect Stuart's shot.

At that point Adelphi senior goalkeeper Daniel De La Heras came off his line and dispossessed Stuart with a slide tackle of his own, then he jumped on the ball to put an end to the attack.

The score was tied 0-0 after 45 minutes, and Le Moyne came out aggressive to start the second half, often looking to get Stuart the ball on the right wing.

In the 55^th minute, the Dolphins had possession in the left side of their attacking third, and Goodrich sent a pass out wide for Van Duin, who sent a cross into the middle of Adelphi's penalty area.

The ball was driven near the penalty kick spot, where Noah Sperduto (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira) was able to direct a long header on goal with a defender covering him closely.

Sperduto's shot flew high in the air towards the goal line and was heading for the upper left corner of the net. De La Heras scrambled to his right, leaped in the air, and knocked the ball over the crossbar and out of bounds for a corner kick.

The 'Phins nearly took a 1-0 lead in the 83^rd minute when Goodrich took a corner kick from the left flag and sent a cross into the middle of a crowded penalty area. An Adelphi player sent an errant header towards the left side of the Adelphi goal, but the ball was cleared off the goal line by a Panthers defender just before Crysler-Howard could knock it into the back of the net.

The match was still tied 0-0 after 90 minutes, sending the postseason contest to overtime.

With 3:46 left in the first 10-minute overtime period, Van Duin sent a great through ball on the ground into the path of Stuart, who made a run down the left wing.

Stuart battled with an Adelphi defender to keep possession, then he sent a pass to Goodrich who was trailing the play and ran towards the top of the 18-yard box in the middle-left portion of Le Moyne's attacking third.

Goodrich's first touch was a left-footed shot hit hard towards the top of the goal. De La Heras reacted in time, knocking the ball in the air then catching it with both arms to record the save.

Both Adelphi and Le Moyne played 20 minutes of overtime during their first-round matches in the NE10 Championships on Saturday, so towards the end of the second overtime period on Wednesday, both sides seemed content with deciding the match via a penalty kick shootout.

The match was officially declared a 0-0 draw after 110 scoreless minutes of action on Motamed Field, but whoever won the penalty kick shootout would be given the opportunity to compete in the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament Final against #1 Franklin Pierce.

The fact that the match officially goes down as a draw is somewhat significant, because had the Dolphins won in regulation or overtime it would have been head coach Tom Bonus' 250th victory in charge of the Dolphins. Le Moyne will now have the opportunity to win a NE10 Championship and get Coach Bonus his 250th win in one fell swoop.

By the end of the second overtime period, Le Moyne had accumulated nine corner kicks compared to just two for Adelphi, and the Dolphins put five shots on goal compared to four for the Panthers.

Adelphi's Victor Castel took the first kick from the spot, and he narrowly beat Mahr with a shot into the bottom right corner of the net.

For Le Moyne's first kick of the shootout, Tom Henne (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Buckhorn) hit a shot towards the bottom left corner of the net, but De La Heras swiftly dove to his right and knocked the ball away from his goal.

With Le Moyne on their heels, Mahr bounced on his toes and rattled the crossbar with his raised fists as Adelphi's Alessio Consoli prepared to take Adelphi's second kick.

Consoli went with a slow run up and aimed his shot towards the left side of the net. Mahr's first movement was a fake to his left, then he read Consoli perfectly, shifted back to his right, laid out and made the save to energize the Le Moyne team and get them back on track.

Goodrich stepped up next for Le Moyne. The Third Team All-Conference defender took two steps towards the ball then hit a rocket with his left foot into the upper right corner of the goal, giving De La Heras no chance to make the stop. A gutsy shot from a gutsy player tied the shootout at 1-1 after two rounds.

Adelphi's Matteo Lazzarini was tasked with providing a response for the Panthers, and he sent a well-placed shot towards the bottom right corner of the net. Lazzarini did everything right, and hit his shot hard, but Mahr was in the zone.

Le Moyne's graduate keeper pounced to his left, stretching his 6"2 frame parallel to the ground and knocking the ball towards the sideline for his second consecutive save.

Center defender Ben Quigley confidently hit his shot into the bottom left corner of the net, beating De La Heras to put the 'Phins up 2-1 after three rounds.

Then, it was time for the finale to Mahr's electrifying shootout performance.

Christopher Armas stepped up to take Adelphi's fourth kick from the spot, and he placed his shot towards the bottom left side of the net. Mahr read the kick taker perfectly once again; he dove to his right and comfortably made the save.

Mahr immediately popped up, displayed the full scope of his wingspan, his arms raised wide with his chest out as if to say, "Are you not entertained?"

With the Dolphins now in full control thanks to Mahr's heroics, Le Moyne's graduate midfielder Crysler-Howard strode towards the spot with an opportunity to send the Dolphins to the NE10 Championship.

Crysler-Howard ran at the ball violently, successfully faking the keeper, then knocked the ball into a wide-open right side of the net to score the match-winner and send Le Moyne through to the final. Crysler-Howard ran towards the left corner flag as his teammates chased after him, all eager to celebrate their triumph.

Le Moyne is now 4-0 in postseason penalty kick shootouts under the direction of Coach Bonus. Their last penalty kick shootout occurred In the First Round of the 2017 NE10 Championships, when the Dolphins took down SNHU. Prior to that, the Le Moyne men's soccer team prevailed in penalty kicks during the 2009 NCAA Quarterfinals and the 2010 NE10 First Round, with both of those also coming against SNHU.

The Dolphins will take on #1 Franklin Pierce University in the NE10 Championship Final. The FPU Ravens are the No. 1 seed in the NE10 tournament as well as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation according to the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll.

The Ravens defeated Southern New Hampshire in the other NE10 Semifinal game by a score of 7-1, and they are 19-0-1 in 2022.

The only non-victory on Franklin Pierce's schedule, a draw, occurred against the Dolphins on Ted Grant Field in September. Le Moyne and then No. 2-ranked FPU battled to a 0-0 draw in NE10 regular-season action.

The NE10 Championship will be played on Saturday, November 5 at No. 1 Franklin Pierce at 6:00 p.m..