ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Playing down a man and down a goal, Eastern University Men's Soccer scored in the 90th minute to force overtime but fell to the visiting DeSales University Bulldogs in penalty kicks in the MAC Freedom Championship game.

The top-seeded Eagles (12-2-6) fell behind on a Justin Habick goal in the 67th minute, and things got worse when Zach Harley picked up his second yellow card in the 75th minute. The Eagles had moved to three players in the back to try to find the equalizer and the first year defender got caught on a pair of physical challenges in dangerous positions. The Eagles pushed forward, and despite very deliberate play from the visitors were able to find some chances while down a man.

"We expected that it might be, and it was a choppy and a little more of a direct game," Head Coach Jeremey Payne said of the day. "We did not get the ball on the ground as much as we would have liked to and we struggled to find the balance between being direct and connecting passes. If we had found a moment of quality in front of the goal earlier in the game, it would have been a different day."

With under a minute to play, Jake Cahill made a run into the box and released shot on frame. Dan Sulpizio, the Bulldog goalkeeper pushed the junior back's shot around the post for a corner kick. The Eagles have been dangerous on corners throughout the year and throughout the day. Jadon Ramsing just missed putting the Eagles up on a header off the crossbar in the 14th minute.

With Quentin Keibler in the box, the Eagles were able to equalize numbers and Sean Dougherty won a battle for a beautifully struck corner from Colin Furlong at the near post. The junior midfielder powered a header in to the top of the goal to tie the match with 27 seconds on the clock. With the serve, Furlong picked up his 14th assist of the year.

The Eagles had used similar heroics to win at Misericordia in last year's MAC Freedom Final. Jake Sankey scored in the 89th minute to tie that match.

"We did not do a great job of being emotionally disciplined." Payne added. "We let external situations impact us, and we took extra fouls and took too many yellow cards on non-soccer plays.  It would have been easy to call it a day, but at that point we showed some strong character. We gave ourselves a chance."

Both teams had chances in the overtimes, but the defenses held and the game went to penalty kicks. After both teams made the first two shots, both Sulpizio and Keibler made saves. Sulpizio made another save on Eastern's fourth kick. Jacob Myers converted to force a DeSales make, but Dan Rumpf finished to lift the Bulldogs to their first MAC Freedom Championship since 2011. Sulpizio was named the Tournament MVP. DeSales had advanced to the Championship game on penalty kicks as well.

Eastern's five seniors finish their careers as the most successful class in program history. Jadon Ramsing, Sean Dougherty, Quentin Keibler, Brian Plucinsky, and Vanji Moise reached four consecutive MAC Freedom Championship matches and won a pair. They finish with a career record of 59-15-7.

"Our seniors had an unbelievable run," Payne concluded. "For them to end their year not in the NCAA Tournament is really disappointing. These guys risked their heart and it hurts. What those guys have done, they have set us up really well going forward. We are in a good spot as a program for what they have done on and off the field."