NAZARETH ADVANCES ON PENALTY KICKS, 16-15
Golden Flyers (14-4-3) reach round of 16
• BOXSCORE | • CUMULATIVE STATS

BUFFALO, N.Y. (Nov. 11, 2006) – Nazareth's storybook men's soccer season lived on Saturday as the Golden Flyers outlasted Medaille in penalty kicks in a second-round NCAA Tournament game at the University of Buffalo.

Following a 2-2 tie after 110 minutes of regulation play and overtime, Nazareth converted 16 of 20 penalty kicks to Medaille's 15 of 20 to end a grueling, rain-soaked event and send the Golden Flyers to next weekend's round of 16.

Nazareth's season was officially on life support during the penalty kicks, but Medaille squandered at least three chances to advance as Golden Flyers' goalie Alex Kilroy made clutch saves.

Nazareth will play again next weekend against UC-Santa Cruz, a 4-0 winner of Trinty of Texas Sunday. The game will be played either Friday or Saturday at New York University.

Nazareth had leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but the host Mavericks answered each time. Christopher Löfgren (pictured) scored unassisted for Nazareth early in the first half, but Medaille's Gary Boughton tied the score on a penalty kick before the half ended. Nazareth regained the lead, 2-1, early in the second half when sophomore Justin Stevens one-touched a crossing pass from Andrew Wirfel past Mavericks' goalie Craig Yanni. Medaille answered with 15 minutes left in regulation on Ryan Mangino's Division III-leading 34th goal of the season.

The teams then played two 10-minute overtime periods, but neither team had any quality scoring opportunities to set the stage for penalty kicks.

Nazareth and Medaille each scored on four of their first five chances. The shootout then went to sudden death as the teams continued to trade penalty kicks. In all, each team took 20 kicks with Nazareth converting 16 and Medaille 15. Kilroy made four saves in the session, including three on kicks that would have sealed victory for the Mavericks.

Ed Babcock, Löfgren, Jeremy Bergan, Scott Cavanaugh, Wirfel, Nick Proukou and Justino Flores each scored twice. After Flores, Nazareth's 20th shooter, scored Nazareth's 16th goal, Medaille's Michel Mendez shot went wide left to end the match and send Nazareth to the next round.

Medaille had a 20-13 advantage in shots and an 8-3 edge in corner kicks. The game lasted more than three hours with several clock stoppages due to assorted injuries and infractions that results in two yellow cards for each team. Medaille finishes the season 20-1-1. Nazareth is 14-4-3.