St. Francis men’s soccer edged by Fordham in NCAA Tournament thriller

Terriers squander pair of leads in heartbreaking 3-2 OT loss

November 21, 2017 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Nadim Saqui’s second-half goal wasn’t enough as SFC Brooklyn suffered a tough 3-2 overtime loss at Fordham last Friday night in the opening round of the NCAA College Cup. Photo courtesy of SFC Brooklyn Athletics

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The St. Francis College (SFC) Brooklyn men’s soccer club was less than 10 minutes away from its first NCAA Tournament victory in nearly 40 years last Thursday night in the Bronx.

But the Fordham Rams came storming back to deny the Terriers a trip to the second round of the College Cup, rallying for a 3-2 overtime victory on sophomore Joergen Oland’s Golden Goal in front of 634 fans on a blustery night at Jack Coffey Field.

“I think we tired out a little bit,” admitted SFC head coach Tom Giovatto. “It was tough to play again on Thursday after playing [the previous] Friday and Sunday [in the NEC Tournament]. We played well enough to win, but we were unlucky. That’s soccer.”

The Terriers, who entered the contest on a 10-match unbeaten streak, jumped out in front on Leo Folla’s goal in the ninth minute off an assist from senior and Brooklyn native Dominick Falanga.

That appeared to be enough for SFC, which stymied opposing offenses all year en route to its fourth Northeast Conference championship in the past five seasons.

However, Fordham’s senior midfielder Jannik Loebe spoiled any hopes of the Terriers’ third consecutive shutout victory when he beat senior netminder Roberto Bazzichetto with a sonic blast from 30 yards out in the 72nd minute.

Much as they have all season long, the Terriers responded just seconds later when senior forward Nadim Saqui took off on his own immediately following Loebe’s tally and beat the field to record his fourth goal in as many contests, staking SFC to a 2-1 lead.

The Terriers (14-5-1), who hadn’t advanced in the national championships since 1978, appeared poised to run out the clock and advance to this past weekend’s second round in Charlottesville, Virginia before Rams defender Matthew Lewis delivered the equalizer for Fordham in the 81st minute.

“They’re a great team,” Giovatto said. “They were ranked 25 when we played them, and shot up pretty quick after the Virginia game. They had a couple of really special players. They came in with a great game plan and executed it.”

In the extra period, Bazzichetto did his best to keep the Rams at bay.

He blocked a shot by Connor DeFillippis, but the ball rolled out toward Oland, who sent the Rams into the second round by pummeling one into the net for the game-winner.

“Just an unbelievable atmosphere tonight,” said Fordham head coach Jim McElderry, whose squad advanced to the Sweet 16 by also beating No. 11 Virginia on Sunday.

“Really proud of so many people coming out to the game and it being a special moment for our players,” he added. “I couldn’t be prouder of the group. Some of our big players stepped up and had some massive moments for us tonight.”

The Terriers had massive moments of their own throughout this historic campaign, blanking Robert Morris and arch rival LIU Brooklyn by a combined 8-0 at Brooklyn Bridge Park the weekend before last to defend their NEC crown.

Falanga, a likely NEC Player of the Year candidate, capped his brilliant career with seven goals and two assists this season, while Ali Tounkara’s late scoring rampage gave him the team lead in tallies with eight and earned the junior forward NEC Tournament MVP honors.

SFC, which has won back-to-back crowns twice during this dynastic reign, had surrendered only one goal in its previous six contests before meeting the Rams, and got seven shutouts this year from Bazzichetto.

The Terriers will enter the 2018 campaign with a mind-numbing 18-game conference unbeaten streak after going 16-0-2 against NEC foes since dropping an NEC Tournament semifinal game to the Blackbirds back in 2015.

“We were very disappointed,” Giovatto said following the close of another successful campaign. “It’s tough, but at the end of the day the guys had an incredible year. Fourteen wins is a really good year. The guys are proud and we are proud of them.

“We want to win [in the NCAAs], but the goal is always to win the NEC. It’s not that easy to do. We’re really happy that we’ve done it the last few years, and that’s the goal. Do it again.”

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In other local college sports news, the LIU Brooklyn men’s basketball squad earned a split of its weekend visit to Jamaica last weekend, dropping its opening contest to Miami of Ohio before edging the University of Hartford on Saturday night in Montego Bay.

Sophomore Jashaun Agosto had 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go with six rebounds and seven assists as the Blackbirds (2-3) held off Hartford, 86-84, in the finale.

Seniors Joel Hernandez and Raiquan Clark earned All-Tournament honors for the Blackbirds, who will return to action Wednesday afternoon at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

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The SFC men’s hoops squad bid farewell to its 18-game losing streak Sunday afternoon on Remsen Street as the backcourt combo of sophomore Rasheem Dunn and freshman Jalen Jordan paced the Terriers to a 77-74 victory over Brown.

Dunn scored 23 points and Jordan, who was named the NEC’s Rookie of the Week on Monday, added 22 as SFC posted its first win since an 87-86 overtime triumph against Central Connecticut State here last New Year’s Eve.

The Terriers dropped their last 16 contests last season and had dropped consecutive games at Duquesne and Manhattan College this year before giving the crowd of 513 at the Pope Center something to cheer about on Sunday.