Albany, NY – The Panthers of Purchase College posted a 5-4 double-overtime win over the Gators of The Sage Colleges' in the Skyline Conference men's soccer semifinals. Junior defender Renato Martins (Sao Paulo, Brazil) came through with the game-winning goal at 101:05 to propel his team to the championship match of the 2014 Skyline Conference. With the win, No. 6 seeded Purchase improves to 9-9-1 on the year, while second seeded Sage falls to 9-7-1. The Panthers will host the 2014 Skyline Conference Fall Festival on November 8 and await their opponent from a match-up between No. 1 seeded Mt. St. Mary College and No. 5 seeded St. Joseph's College (LI) that will take place later this evening.
Sage led first as sophomore forward Alex Lanza (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) scored on a pass from senior Gustavo Trinidad (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) at 12:50. Trinidad gave the Gators a 2-0 lead when he converted a penalty kick at 17:07 after a hard foul in the box. Junior Peter Fabrykiwicz (Delancey, NY/Andes) added at score 31:59, giving Sage a 3-0 lead.
For the Panthers, senior forward Andres Romero (Port Chester, NY/Port Chester) gave the team their first goal of the day at 36:51. Sage led 3-1 at the half, but the Panthers scored early into the second stanza as senior Dylan Hyman (San Francisco, CA/Gateway) connected on his first goal of the year at 47:41. Fabrykiwicz scored again for the Gators as he scored his team-leading 10th goal of the year at the 51:55 mark.
Purchase was not deterred as junior forward Myles Clohessy (Cornwall, CT/Housatonic Valley Regional) tallied his third goal of the year on a cross from Romero at 60:50. Clohessy, a Skyline Conference Second Team pick, elevated his season tally to three goals with his score. Senior midfielder Eli Wilson-Berkowitz (Northampton, MA/Home Schooled) tied the action in the waning minutes of regulation as he added his fifth goal of the year at 88:18 to send the game to the extra sessions.
After playing the first 10 minutes of overtime with each team having their chances, junior defender Renato Martins (Sao Paulo, Brazil) collected the rebound off a shot by teammate, senior Junior Sanguina (White Plains, NY/Valhalla) at 101:05 to propel the Panthers on to the 2014 championship match. It was the second game-winning goal for Martins this fall as Purchase has posted back-to-back wins over higher seeded teams in the run for the 2014 league title.
Fabrykiwicz, a Skyline Conference First Team pick, finished the afternoon with two goals and four points, while Trinidad, Sage's first three-time Skyline Conference First Team performer, added a goal and an assist. Trinidad now has 81 career points, an active Sage record with 25 goals and 31 career assists. He also holds the program's career assist record, while standing No. 2 in career goals with 25.
Sage's junior T.J. Zehner (Beacon, NY/Beacon) made a season-high 15 saves on the action, but took the loss. He drops to 9-7-1 on the year. A first-team Skyline Conference pick, Zehner continues to add to his extensive list of records as the Gators' keeper. He has a active records for most saves (168) as well as most appearances in goal (42) and most career starts in goal (42).
Purchase's junior keeper Esteban Aguilar (East Hampton, NY/East Hampton) collected the win in net after turning away five of the 20 shots he faced.
The 2014 Skyline Conference Championship will be held in conjunction with the Fall Festival at Purchase College on November 8 with the men's championship match taking place at 1:30 p.m. The 2014 Skyline Conference Champion will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
