CONWAY, Ark. — Appearing in the ASUN Tournament semifinals has officially become a habit of the Bellarmine University men's soccer team.
On Saturday night in the quarterfinals at the Bill Stephens Soccer Complex, the sixth-seeded Knights defeated third-seeded Stetson 3-0 in a penalty kick shootout following what officially goes down as a 2-2 draw.
In doing so, Bellarmine (6-4-7) sealed its third straight berth in the conference semifinals in three seasons in Division I and the ASUN. The Knights will meet two-seed and host Central Arkansas at 7 p.m. (ET) Monday.
With the score tied at 2 following regulation and two overtimes, Bellarmine and Stetson (6-3-7) headed into PKs. Considering the man in goal for the Knights was second-team ASUN All-Conference recipient
Matthew Brozovich, who thwarted penalty kicks in each of the final two regular-season games, it was a promising scenario for Bellarmine.
And soon it became evident why.
Brozovich dived to his right to swat away Stetson's first attempt. Junior forward
Nolan McGrath had preceded that stop by drilling Bellarmine's first opportunity, and junior defender
Brock Pope followed it by burying the Knights' second shot for a 2-0 advantage.
Stetson sailed one over the crossbar on its second chance. Bellarmine then missed its third attempt, but the Hatters followed with a miss off the crossbar.
Joey Gladys approached the box with the opportunity to close out the PK session, and the senior midfielder didn't flinch, lacing his shot into the left upper-90 to trigger a jubilant celebration as the Knights once again made the ASUN semis.
Bellarmine's two goals marked its most against an ASUN opponent this year. The postseason rejuvenated the offense after the Knights had been shut out three straight times to close the regular season.
The teams exchanged the four combined goals. Bellarmine scored just ahead of halftime as senior midfielder
Rahim Shalash made a cross near the end line just outside the goalie box that found Pope, who knocked in the close-range shot for a 1-0 lead on his first goal of the season.
In the second half, Stetson knotted it at 1 in the 65th minute. Luis Lara Delgado netted his sixth goal of the season on a header off a Charles Ahl corner kick.
Ten minutes later, Bellarmine went up 2-1 on the second goal of the season by
Chris Shust. The sophomore forward tracked down a lead pass and beat the defense and goalkeeper. Freshman midfielder
Cooper Forcellini and Gladys were credited with assists on the play.
Just as Bellarmine scored near the end of the first half, Stetson delivered the equalizer near the close of the second half. In the 88th minute, a service into the box deflected out to Gio Rodriguez, who hit a rocket inside the far post from 22 yards for his fifth goal of the year.
While the golden goal eluded both teams in the overtime frames, each got very close to a walk-off win. The Knights had both of the shots taken in the first session, but they had to stave off three Stetson attempts in the second one.
For the match, Stetson finished with a 15-11 advantage in shots, including 5-4 on frame. The Hatters had a 4-2 shot advantage in the first half and 12-9 edge at the end of regulation.
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