WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 2 seed Fairleigh Dickinson men's soccer team got the decisive goal on its fifth penalty kick opportunity to advance past No. 3 seed Monmouth, 4-3, in the second semifinal match of the Northeast Conference Tournament on Friday at West Haven High School. Both teams played to a 1-1 tie through regulation and two overtime sessions. With the tie, the Knights move to 9-5-5 on the season, while the Hawks end the year 11-4-4.

FDU's victory advances them to Sunday's championship match against No. 4 seed Saint Francis Pa., who moved on after defeating top-seed Quinnipiac in penalty kicks, 4-3.

Freshman Jan Aubert converted the Knights' fifth penalty kick to advance FDU to the championship match for the second consecutive year and the 12th time in program history.

In the first half, the Knights were the more aggressive team and had opportunities early on but could not come through. However, in the 39th minute, freshman Simon Dohertywas in the right place at the right time to give FDU a 1-0 lead. A Monmouth defender passed back to goalkeeper Alex Blackburn, who missed the ball as he was going to kick it, rolling to a wide-open Doherty for the put back and his third goal of the season.

Over the first 45 minutes, the Knights outshot the Hawks, 4-2, and 3-1 in corner kicks.

To open the second half, Monmouth came out as the aggressor and tied the game at one in the 51st minute off a set play from a free kick. Emmanuel Agyemang got the ball in the box from the free kick and let a shot fly at junior goalkeeper Jacob Lissek, who made the save. However, the rebound bounced back to Agyemange, which allowed him to score on a quick tap.

Twenty minutes later in the 71st minute, FDU had its best opportunity of the second half to score. After a corner kick, junior Nicholas Walker sent a header towards the goal, which was deflected away by Blackburn and heading towards the back of the net near the right post. However, a Monmouth defender was able keep the ball from going in.

After the save was made, the ball went to sophomore Anders Vest-Hansen, who took a shot that was saved by Blackburn. Over the final 19 minutes of regulation, neither team could gain an advantage, resulting in overtime for the second time between the two schools this season after Monmouth outshot the Knights in the second half, 8-7

Heading into the first overtime period with an 11-10 shot advantage, FDU got off two quick ones in the box, which were blocked by the Monmouth defense. Early in the 97th minute, Aubert had a shot saved by Blackburn, and junior David Cornwell just missed ending the match with seven seconds left in overtime, but his shot went just wide to the right.

The Hawks took the only shot of the second overtime, with Lissek making a save in the 104th minute. After the conclusion of the second overtime, the Knights held a 15-11 advantage in shots. Lissek made two saves for FDU and Blackburn made four for Monmouth with a team save.

Monmouth shot first in the penalty kick shootout and Joseph Schmid beat Lissek to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. FDU tied it right up as senior Jack McVey found the back of the net.

Lissek turned the advantage in the Knights' favor as he made a great save diving to his left to keep the shootout tied at one. Walker then stepped up for FDU and put the up 2-1.

After the Hawks' third shot hit the right post, Vest-Hansen gave the Knights a 3-1 lead, which was then cut to 3-2. With a chance to win the shootout, senior Antony Moore's shot was saved by Blackburn, giving Monmouth a chance to tie match, which it did.

With the shootout tied at three, Aubert stepped up and nailed the shot to advance the Knights to the finals.

Sunday's NEC Tournament championship match between the Knights and the Red Flash will kickoff at 1 p.m. A site is still to be determined.

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