LORETTO, Pa. – The Long Island University men's soccer team came up just short in its Northeast Conference title defense, falling 3-2 in penalty kicks to fourth-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson University in the conference championship match on Sunday, Nov. 17 at the Stokes Soccerplex.
 
The FDU Knights claimed their eighth conference tournament title in program history despite LIU holding a 1-0 advantage at the half.
 
It was all LIU during the opening 45 minutes, as the Sharks attempted six shots with two finding the target. Ndoye got the Blue and Gold on the scoreboard early, taking a pass from junior Jonas Dovland and fired a rocket from the top of the 18 that went off the hands of FDU goalkeeper Jahmali Waite and into the back of the net for the game's first goal. LIU carried the 1-0 advantage into the second half before the Knights turned up the pressure on the offensive end.
 
Midway through the second half, senior Matias Pesallaccia made a great diving save on a shot from the right corner of the penalty area to keep the Knights scoreless. FDU continued to press, however, and capitalized on a corner kick that bounced around a handful of heads before Jared Dillon headed one into the top right corner to level the scoring at 1-1.
 
LIU did well to neutralize the FDU attack the rest of regulation, and the Sharks and Knights headed into extra time deadlocked at 1-1. During the first overtime period, both sides had opportunities in transition, including a shot from eight yards out by freshman Keanu Tuart that was stopped by Waite early in the period. 10 minutes was not enough to decide a winner, and the teams entered a second overtime period.
 
The Sharks and Knights continued to have opportunities during the second overtime period but could not find the back of the net. Pesallaccia made a great save on the doorstep with less than a minute remaining to keep FDU off the board and the game headed into penalty kicks to determine a champion.
 
In the penalty shootout, senior Kyle Parish found the crossbar with the first attempt for LIU and Waite made a save on LIU's attempt in round two to help the Knights jump out to a 2-0 lead. FDU eventually took a 3-1 lead before Pesallaccia made a save in round four, but Waite made a championship-clinching stop in round five against LIU to lift the Knights into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2012 season.
 
Parish, along with graduate student Stefan Faistenauer and sophomore Fridtjof Andberg were named to the all-tournament team from LIU.