ST. DAVIDS, Pa.–
Quentin Keibler stopped the first two King's College Monarch attempts and Eastern University Men's Soccer made all four shots to advance to Saturday's MAC Freedom Championship game with 4-1 penalty kick shootout win. Neither team was able to score through 110 minutes of soccer.
Eastern (14-4-2) had the bulk of the play through the first half, but King's sophomore goalkeeper Owen Geedey made a pair of stops, and the King's defense kept the Eagles from getting quality looks in close. The Eagles were dangerous with five corner kicks and several restart attempts.
The Monarchs (9-8-2) owned the early part of the second half. With a steady breeze behind them, King's put ball after ball into the Eastern box.
Jadon Ramsing and
Jacob Myers were up to the challenge with several clearing headers in front of Keibler, but the mounting pressure had the Eagles on their heels.
The Monarchs earned a pair of corners in the 63rd minute. On the second one, the ball fell to Ryan Romeo on the back post. The sophomore midfielder ripped a shot past Keibler that
Jake Cahill blocked on the goal line.
In the six matches involving MAC Freedom Playoff teams this year, the losing team had yet to score a goal. While neither team technically lost, that trend of stingy defense held today.
The Monarchs continued to press until about the 75th minute, and then the momentum changed.
Colin Furlong ripped a shot from distance that created another corner kick opportunity. In the play after that corner kick,
JD Saracco picked up a loose ball on the left flank and curled a right-footed cross toward the back post.
Cade Harmon beat his mark to the ball and nodded it just wide of the upper corner.
The Eastern pressure continued without result until the final whistle of regulation.
Billy Walenda had several long throws into the box, and Cahill made three promising runs forward. Each time, the Monarch defense held.
Eastern had the wind in the first overtime and carried much of the action.
Jake Sankey missed header wide and Saracco put a shot on goal from distance that Geedey smothered well.
Sean Dougherty had the best chance in the second overtime, but his header went wide.
"[We were] very pleased with the overall effort of our team on defense," Head Coach
Mark Wagner said after the match. "We struggled with that earlier in the season and have come a long way. I think we did a great job of limiting King's chances throughout the match."
Wagner pointed out the efforts of Keibler in managing his box through regulation and was effusive in his praise for his junior goalkeeper's efforts in the shootout.
"Q [Keibler] was massive for us in the penalty shootout," Wagner said. "We have confidence in our preparation and in the ability of our shooters, but getting two stops gives an unbelievable margin. It takes a lot of pressure off our shooters to know we have him making saves like that."
Ramsing made the first shot, and then Keibler stopped a King's attempt with a dive to his left. Harmon put away his attempt before Keibler stopped another shot to his left. Sankey put his shot in the upper corner before Keegan Fees knocked his attempt in for King's.
Colin Furlong put the game out of reach with Eastern's fourth make.
"Credit goes to Coach Bassett and the King's program," Wagner concluded. "They had a great game plan and were very difficult to break down. They had to earn their way here on Saturday, which we know is a hard thing to do. We are grateful for the opportunity to play again on Saturday."
The Eagles await the result of tonight's game between top-seeded Misericordia and fourth-seeded DeSales. If DeSales wins, then Eastern would host. Otherwise, the Eagles will travel to Dallas. Game time and relevant details will be announced as soon as they become available.
