“What a great feeling this is,” head coach Cesar Markovic said. “Our fans have been great all year and wouldn’t let us lose. When Rogic made that save, I thought that was the turning point. You have to credit a great UMBC team. They played us tough twice this year but we’re happy to be moving on.”
Despite being outshot by Stony Brook, 23-11, UMBC recorded four of the first five shots. Fernandes had the Seawolves first quality attempt but his header went high over the crossbar. Nearly three minutes later, a tremendous effort by Abreu almost put Stony Brook ahead 1-0. Sophomore Wilber Bonilla (Brentwood, N.Y.) dribbled around two defenders and slipped a pass to Abreu, whose body was going away from the shot, saved nicely by UMBC keeper Phil Saunders.
Rogic, who saved two penalty kicks in the shootout win over Hartford on Wednesday, was tested in the same manner once again. A foul in the box gave Houapeu a penalty kick but Rogic anticipated the shot and dived to his left to make the stop. Even though the ball squirted away, Rogic jumped on the ball and corralled it.
Following a second yellow card on a UMBC player that gave Stony Brook an 11-10 advantage in the 67th minute, the Seawolves took a 1-0 lead less than two minutes later. A service into the box caused a scrum between Abreu, a UMBC defender and Saunders. But Abreu came out with the ball and put it towards the bottom left corner of the goal for the score.
Aside from the penalty kick opportunity, UMBC’s best chance came in the 74th minute. Andrew Bulls sent a corner kick into space, which found the foot of Dustin Dzwonkowski, but his shot went high over the crossbar as the equalizer was averted.
On Stony Brook’s next possession, the America East Rookie of the Year, put the game away. Following a foul, Fernandes sent the free kick perfectly towards the left upper ’90 for the goal. It was Fernandes’ team-leading seventh goal of the season, which tied him with Shane Arikian ’04 for the most goals by a freshman in the program’s Division I history.
Along with Rogic, who was named the America East Championship’s Most Outstanding Player, seniors Collin Geoghegan (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) and Damion Brown (Kingston, Jamaica) and junior Greg Tinari (Holbrook, N.Y.) were named to the All-Championship Team.
Stony Brook will await its fate as the NCAA announces the College Cup brackets on Monday, November 16 between 5:30 and 6:00 live on ESPNews. First round action commences on November 19.
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