Men’s Soccer Falls To Norwich In Penalty Kicks In GNAC Quarterfinals

The fifth seeded men's soccer squad was eliminated from the 2012 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship in a quarterfinal match against fourth seeded Norwich on the road on Saturday afternoon. The two teams battled through a scoreless regulation and two overtime periods before heading to penalty kicks.  Norwich then converted on all five kicks while JWU put in four, sending the Cadets onto the semifinals.

Both teams had solid scoring chances in the first half, including a header by JWU sophomore Sam Maker (Naples, Maine) that hit the crossbar in the 19^th minute.  The Wildcats held an 8-7 advantage in shots in the first half.  It was more back and forth action in the second half with JWU freshman Austin Scoggin (Mattituck, N.Y.) making a pair of saves in the final three minutes of regulation to preserve the tie.

In the first overtime period, the Wildcats controlled the action, taking four shots on goal, but they couldn't capitalize as the game headed into the second overtime stanza.  That overtime period saw both teams with quality opportunities, but once again Scoggin came up big for JWU with a diving save with :40 left to send the match to penalty kicks.

Scoggin had eight stops for the Wildcats while Greg Payne notched 11 saves for Norwich.

Johnson & Wales wraps up the 2012 campaign with an 11-7-2 mark while Norwich is 10-5-2.  The Cadets will face off against Lasell on October 30^th in the GNAC semifinals.