St. Francis, LIU-Brooklyn soccer ready for NEC playoffs

Top-Seeded SFC to host RMU, LIU Battles FDU in semifinals at BBP

November 9, 2017 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Senior Nadim Saqui earned NEC Player of the Week honors after his golden goal last Sunday at LIU Field gave the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers a 2-1 win over the Blackbirds and the top seed in this weekend’s NEC Tournament at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Photo courtesy of SFC Brooklyn Athletics

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It took just over 101 minutes for St. Francis Brooklyn and LIU Brooklyn to decide the Northeast Conference (NEC) regular-season men’s soccer championship last Sunday afternoon at LIU Field.

Now, the archrival neighborhood programs are eager for a rematch in the NEC Championship Game this Sunday at Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP), but both will have to win their respective league semifinal contests to make the epic tilt a reality.

Senior forward Nadim Saqui delivered the golden goal in overtime just seconds into the 102nd minute during last weekend’s Battle of Brooklyn, giving the reigning conference champion Terriers (12-4-1 overall, 6-0-1 NEC) an opportunity to repeat on their home turf with a thrilling 2-1 triumph over LIU.

The victory extended SFC’s unbeaten streak within conference play to 12-0-2, dating back to the 2015 season, when the Terriers were knocked off by the eventual champion Blackbirds in the NEC semifinals.

NEC Player of the Year candidate Dominick Falanga also scored for SFC, just three minutes after the Blackbirds’ Christoffer Bjarre Solbakken netted the contest’s opening tally in the 61st minute off a feed from junior Rasmus Hansen.

The back-and-forth contest was indicative of the way these Downtown Brooklyn schools have controlled the balance of power in the NEC over the past four seasons, with SFC grabbing three league titles and LIU winning it the year before last.

“Last [weekend’s] win was very important,” said SFC head coach Tom Giovatto, who will be vying for his fourth NEC crown at the helm when the Terriers take on visiting No. 4 seed Robert Morris University (RMU) at BBP Friday afternoon.

“It gave us the regular-season championship and home field for the playoffs,” he added.

The Terriers boast an intimidating 31-5-4 mark at BBP since it officially became their home field five years ago.

“The guys love playing at home and it will be great to have the support of our fans there,” Giovatto said.

Despite failing to grab the regular-season title from the Terriers, the Blackbirds (5-8-2, 4-2-1) are also just two wins away from capturing their second NEC championship in three years under longtime head coach TJ Kostecky.

“Although naturally we didn’t get the result we wanted to against SFNY, I was proud of how well our players competed against a strong defensive team,” said Kostecky, whose team will take on No. 3 Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) (10-4-3, 3-2-2) in Friday’s other semifinal.

“We scored a terrific goal and were close to scoring two or three more.”

The Blackbirds clinched their NEC Tournament berth by pulling out a 1-1 tie at FDU back on Oct. 30, thanks once again to a goal by Solbakken off a feed from Hansen.

Though they ended the campaign with just one win in their last four conference contests, going 1-2-1, the Blackbirds can wipe the slate clean and set up a second showdown in as many weeks against the Terriers if they can sneak past FDU this time around.

“We’ve moved forward [from last weekend’s loss to SFC] and are excited to be playing in the conference tournament for the fourth year in a row,” Kostecky noted.

“Although FDU is another top side, I’m confident our form is good and we’ll be in good shape on Friday.”

The Terriers, regular-season champs for the second straight year, topped RMU here at BBP on Oct. 30 by a score of 3-1 as Falanga provided a natural hat trick with three consecutive second-half goals.

Another win over the Colonials (4-10-3, 3-3-1) on Friday will result in Giovatto’s squad having a golden opportunity to pick up its fourth NEC crown in the past five years, further cementing what is already one of the more formidable dynasties in the league’s history.

“Robert Morris is a very dangerous offensive team,” Giovatto said. “We will have to be very sharp defensively and finish our chances.”

Defense hasn’t been much of a problem for the Terriers, who have allowed only two goals in 14 games during their ongoing NEC unbeaten streak.

Aside from having a stingy backfield, SFC’s last line of defense has also been on point of late as senior goaltender Roberto Bazzichetto made seven huge saves in the narrow overtime win over LIU last Sunday.

The Blackbirds countered with freshman netminder Anthony Sciola, who stopped 10 shots of his own Sunday before Saqui’s game-winner eluded his grasp.

The LIU-FDU match will be the opener Friday morning at 11 a.m., soon to be followed by the SFC-RMU tilt.

Sunday’s NEC Championship Game will kick off at 1 p.m.

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In other local college sports news, the SFC Brooklyn men’s basketball squad, which went a dismal 4-27 last season, will kick off the 2017-18 campaign this Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in Pittsburgh against Duquesne University.

The LIU Brooklyn hoops squad, now coached by Derek Kellogg after the firing of Jack Perri following last season’s 20-win campaign, will open Friday night at Tulane University in New Orleans.