#3 – MSOC: Fairleigh
Dickinson vs. St. Francis (FDU 1-1, 6-5 in PK) – 11/11/12
Entering the 2012 NEC Championships, the Hawks had gone over
eight years without a defeat to FDU. Monmouth had also ended the Knights season
each of the prior four seasons since the 2008 championship, including a thrilling 2011
final where Monmouth scored the championship winning goal in double overtime,
just 20 seconds shy of penalty kicks. The heartbreaking loss served as fuel and
motivation for the Knights coming into 2012 to finish what they started last year, and make
something special happen with their special group of talent.
During the 2012 regular year, the Knights challenged for the
top spot in the conference all season long. FDU went unbeaten in October, going
4-0-3, allowing only one goal in conference play during that stretch. Monmouth and FDU would play
to a scoreless tie, further extending Monmouth’s unbeaten string against the Knights.
On the final day of the regular season, FDU would find themselves playing for the regular season championship head to head against
Quinnipiac. After allowing only five
goals in conference play all season, Quinnipiac tallied three against FDU on this afternoon,
winning in shutout fashion to earn the regular season crown and hosting duties
for the 2012 NEC Championships. 
Of course, when the final standings were tallied, the seeds were awarded, and the semi-final matchups were announced, the Knights saw in front of them that the path to the finals would once again have to go through the
Monmouth Hawks. These two rivals picked up right where they left off the
year before, playing to a 1-1 draw after 110 minutes. This time the game would be decided in PK’s
with Jan Aubert scoring the clinching strike past Alex Blackburn to finally,
after 2,945 days, allowed FDU to taste the joys of victory in a head to head game against the
Monmouth Hawks, and return to the finals in the process. There they would meet
a St. Francis Red Flash team that was in the midst of an amazing run of their
own. Despite only holding the lead for about 2% of their entire season, head
coach Michael Casper guided the Red Flash into the top four and past top-seeded
Quinnipiac in the semi-final round. On Sunday, November 11th, The Knights
and the Red Flash would take to the pitch at West Haven High School in Connecticut
to decide a new NEC champion. They would end up not just taking the final as
far as you can possibly go, they took the final beyond where you can possibly go,
securing a place as the #3 Top NEC Game of 2012…
Despite only scoring in nine games, while being held
scoreless in 12 games, all season, St. Francis was poised to somehow find the back
of the net and the equalizer. With just under 90 seconds to go until halftime,
SFU’s Nick Kolarac threaded a corner kick through the box and toward the
nearside post, where 6’4” James Price, used every one of those inches to leap
above the rest of the pack, heading a ball that bounced off the far side post
and into the net, to tie the game at 1-1.
Both teams would see scoring opportunities in the second half,
including FDU’s Antony Moore striking the post on a shot from the right side
just 10 minutes after the intermission. Five minutes later, Kolarac had a run up
the right side, but saw his shot denied by a diving Jacob Lissek. In a final
second scramble in regulation, McVey fed the ball in the air again toward
Walker, who just missed heading the ball inside the far post as time expired.
The best scoring opportunity sequence in the bonus sessions
came from St. Francis with 3:20 to go in the second overtime. Off a corner from Kolarac, Ryan Byers
hit the post, followed by Price lifting the rebound inches high of the
crossbar.
After 110 minutes of soccer, nothing had been settled, sending the 2012 NEC Championship Match into penalty kicks. In the PK’s each team would miss one of their first two attempts, but would make their next four straight. The championship match had not only been extended past the usual 110 minutes, but now extended past the usual five rounds of penalties. In the top of the sixth round, Nico Wright snuck one past Valcicak to put FDU up 6-5. In the bottom of the sixth, David Trunzo needed to score for SFU to keep the competition going. Trunzo shot the ball on the ground to the left, where Jacob Lissek dove and smothered the ball right in front of the goal line, securing Fairleigh Dickinson’s record seventh tournament title, and first since 2008. Lissek was named the NEC Tournament MVP.
FDU’s magical run back to the top of the mountain would
continue into the NCAA Tournament. The Knights would first visit Queens, NY to
take on St. John’s, and would escape with a 1-0 win. From there it was a plane
ride down to St. Louis to meet the Billikens in the Round of 32. In what was
considered as another NEC Game of the Year candidate, the Knights would come
away with a 2-1 win in double overtime. Jack McVey headed a ball into the upper
right corner in the 103rd minute to send the Knights on to the Sweet
16. From there the journey would come to an end in overtime against North
Carolina, but the journey itself back to the top was a special one, that
reestablished FDU as not just one of the best men’s soccer programs in the
Northeast Conference, but throughout the nation as well. *photos from northeastconference.org and @necmsoccer
Previous
Top 12 NEC Games of 2012:
#4 – BOWL: Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Nebraska (FDU 4-3) – 4/13/12
#5 – FH: Monmouth vs. Rider, NEC Field Hockey Championship (RID 3-2) – 11/3/12
#6 – FB: Central Connecticut State at Robert Morris (RMU 37-31) – 10/20/12
#7 – MLAX: Mount St. Mary’s vs. Robert Morris (MSM 16-15, OT) – 5/4/12
#8 – SWIM: Day Four of the NEC Swimming Championships (SFU 748-747) – 2/25/12
#9 – BASE: Wagner at Fairleigh Dickinson (FDU 4-3, 12 innings) – 4/7/12
#10 - WSOC: LIU-Brooklyn vs. St. Francis, 2012 NEC Women’s Soccer Final (LIU 1-0) – 11/4/12
#11 – WVB: Robert Morris at Sacred Heart (SHU 3-2) – 10/13/12
#12 (tie) – WBB: Central Connecticut State at St. Francis (SFU 86-83, 2OT) – 2/20/12
#12 (tie) – WBB: LIU-Brooklyn at Monmouth (MU 55-54) – 2/25/12
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