Sports

St. Francis College Soccer Heading to NCAA Tournament

November 18, 2013
By

From St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights

 

The Northeast Conference (NEC) champion St. Francis Brooklyn men’s soccer team will travel to University Park, Pa., to take on the Big Ten regular season champion Penn State University Nittany Lions on Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Men’s College Cup.

(Photo courtesy St. Francis College Athletic Communications)
(Photo courtesy St. Francis College Athletic Communications)

The Terriers (12-5-1) defeated top-seed Central Connecticut State in the semifinal of the Northeast Conference Tournament before coming from behind twice to defeat Bryant University 3-2 in overtime on Sunday.

It’s the team’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998 where they took on Jacksonville in the play-in game. For the Terriers, this is the ninth time the program has reached the opening round; the last time was more than 30 years ago in 1982, when the Terriers fell to Columbia in the first round.

Penn State (11-5-2) secured its fifth Big Ten title in October. The Nittany Lions return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010, when Penn State earned a No. 15 seed and reached the Sweet 16.

St. Francis Brooklyn is anchored defensively by All-Northeast Conference Tournament selections goalie Jack Binks (Darlington, England) and Andy Cormack (Plymouth, England), who scored the game winning goal on a free kick.

Offensively, the Terriers are led by the tandem of All-Northeast Conference First Team selection Kevin Correa (Flushing), who scored four goals in the two game tournament and leads the Terriers in scoring (13 goals, four game winners, 32 points) and All-Northeast Conference Second Team selection Gabriel Bagot (Manhattan), the second-leading scorer on the team with eight goals and 19 points.

St. Francis Brooklyn last played a Big Ten opponent in 2001. Penn State is 3-1 against NEC teams this year and will face the Terriers for the first time in program history. The winner of the match will travel to the 10th seed UC Santa Barbara for a Sunday night match.