OCTOBER 31, 2007
KING'S MEN'S SOCCER ADVANCES TO
FREEDOM CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME IN SHOOT-OUT VICTORY OVER WILKES
WILKES-BARRE --
Senior defender Brandon Placke drilled in the game-winning goal
on the 10th penalty kick as the King's College men's soccer team
advanced to the Freedom Conference Tournament championship game with a
thrilling 0-0 overtime victory over host Wilkes University in a game the
Monarchs won 4-3 in a tiebreaking shootout.
With the win, third-seeded King's improved to 8-8-3 on the year while
second-seeded Wilkes saw its season end at 11-6-2.
After teams played scoreless through 90 minutes of regulation and two
10-minute overtime periods, the game came down to a penalty kick
shootout.
Wilkes first attempt by Matt Sankey was stopped by Monarch goalie John
McNichol while King's Cameron Audette beat Colonel goalie T.J. Baloga to
give King's a 1-0 lead. Wilkes Greg Miller and King's freshman
Kevin Moulton would both convert to push the score to 2-1. Wilkes would
tie the score at 2-2 lead when Sean Vona struck net and Monarch rookie
Ryan Murphy was stopped by Baloga. In the fourth round, McNichol would
make a save off of a shot by Kyle Dukmen while Monarch teammate Ryan
Symons would make good on his attempt to give the Monarchs a 3-2 lead.
Wilkes Andy Curry would then score to tie the score at 3-3.
Placke would then step forward and drilled his game-winning shot into
the upper left corner of the net to give the Monarchs a dramatic
victory.
The game was a closely played contest as the Monarchs outshot Wilkes
15-12 and held a 6-5 advantage in corner kicks. McNichol made five
saves for King's while Baloga had nine stops for the Colonels.
King's advanced to the Freedom Conference title game for the first time
since 2001 when the Monarchs play top-seeded DeSales, a 2-0 semi-final
winner over FDU-Florham, Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in Center Valley.
Note: The NCAA does not award a win or loss
in playoff games decided by the penalty kick/shoot out tiebreaker. Such
games are recorded as ties with the winner advancing via penalty
kick/shootout.
