Terriers fall to FDU in NEC Final

SFC's run of late-game heroics ends in Teaneck, N.J.

November 15, 2022 John Torenli, Sports Editor

Bay Ridge product Khaled Abdella and the St. Francis Terriers were denied their seventh trip to the NCAA College Cup in past 11 years Sunday by NEC champion Fairleigh Dickinson. Photo courtesy of SFC Brooklyn Athletics

Share this:

The St. Francis Brooklyn men’s soccer club was less than 15 minutes away from its seventh trip to the NCAA College Cup in the past 11 seasons Sunday.

Then, Fairleigh Dickinson’s Jaime Barbero took it from them.

Barbero scored two late goals as top-seeded FDU rallied past the Terriers, 2-1, in the Northeast Conference Championship in front of 518 fans at University Stadium in Hackensack, N.J.

After surviving a pair of thrilling penalty kick shootouts against LIU in the quarterfinals and second-seeded Merrimack in the semifinals, the Terriers (8-4-6, 4-1-3 NEC) appeared poised to win this one in regulation.

Michele Signorelli put back a rebound of Jack Pascoe’s attempt in the 63rd minute to snap a scoreless deadlock and goalkeeper Alec McLachlan, who scored the game-winning goal and stopped the potential tying tally in the shootout vs. the Sharks, made seven saves to keep SFC in front.

McLachlan had stopped a penalty shot in the 18th minute, but Barbero barely beat him with another late in the 76th minute, forging a 1-1 tie.

Signorelli, who scored two late goals to equalize the Merrimack match and force overtime Thursday night in Andover, Massachusetts, couldn’t edge SFC back ahead before Barbero struck again in the 84th off an assist from Tony Gomez.

The Terriers were unable to mount a serious challenge thereafter, leaving them one win shy of their second NCAA Tournament appearance in three seasons. SFC won the 2020 title over LIU, fell to the Sharks in a shootout last season and were edged by FDU this year.

R.J. Greene contributed to LIU’s rout of Mount Saint Vincent at the Steinberg Wellness Center in Downtown Brooklyn Monday night. Photo courtesy of LIU Athletics

Despite falling shy of their ultimate goal, the Terriers placed three players on the All-NEC Tournament Team, including First-Team defender Jaydon Humphries, Signorelli and McLachlan.

***

In local college basketball news, the SFC men’s team fell to 1-2 with two consecutive defeats in Minnesota over the weekend.

The Terriers suffered a 72-54 loss to the Gophers of the University of Minnesota last Friday before Sunday’s 84-48 setback to St. Thomas.

Josiah Harris scored 12 points and Tedrick Wilcox Jr., added 10 in the road-trip finale. SFC will be back in Brooklyn Heights Saturday to take on Saint Peter’s.

The Rod Strickland head-coaching era at Long Island University saw its first win in two tries with Monday night’s 111-50 dismantling of visiting Mount Saint Vincent in front of 500 fans at Downtown’s Steinberg Wellness Center.

Quion Burns and Marko Maletic poured in 20 points apiece for the Sharks, who placed six players in double figures in scoring and had at least eight with eight points or more.

Burns added a team-high 11 rebounds for LIU, which will be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to take on Marquette Thursday night.

The LIU ladies jumped to 2-1 with Saturday’s 70-54 win over Hartford in Connecticut.

Ashley Austin paced the Sharks with 14 points and Emaia O’Brien added 11 for LIU, which will wrap up a season-opening four-game road trip Thursday night in Syracuse, N.Y.

“Today we wanted to focus on details,” LIU head coach Rene Haynes said. “We focused on us and how we can be better together. I feel we did that today.

“We had many players make some awesome plays on each end of the floor,” Haynes added. “We will continue to celebrate each other and continue to focus on how we can get better daily.”

The Sharks will host their home opener next Tuesday vs. NJIT.

The SFC Brooklyn women’s basketball team suffered a tough overtime loss to visiting Rider Sunday on Remsen Street. Photo courtesy of SFC Brooklyn Athletics

The SFC women suffered a heartbreaking 71-70 overtime loss to visiting Rider Sunday afternoon on Remsen Street despite 24 points from NEC Player of the Week Alyssa Fisher.

Ella Ogier added 17 points for the Terriers (1-2), who were scheduled to visit NJIT on Wednesday.