PURCHASE, NY - A few weeks ago, the Maritime College men's soccer team's playoff hopes were up in the air, but they will now be playing in the Skyline Conference championship game on Saturday after upsetting the No. 2 seeded Manhattanville Valiants in a penalty kick shootout on Wednesday night. Both teams battled 110 minutes without scoring a goal, and the Privateers came out on top in the penalty kick shootout after a save from Timothy Nichols in the sixth round sealed the win. Last Saturday, Maritime traveled to No. 3 seeded USMMA and pulled off the double overtime upset to reach the semifinals.
The opening period saw limited opportunities from both sides as each team only registered three total shots.
Anthony Sblendorio (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) registered all three attempts for the Privateers, but he was unable to convert and the teams entered halftime knotted at 0.
In the second half, Maritime found themselves on the defensive side, but had the best chance of the game at scoring in regulation.
Christopher Tavernese (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) ripped a shot from the corner of the box that nearly found the back of the net, but the ball bounced straight down and past the Privateers offense coming in for the rebound.
Michael Rodriguez (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) was stellar in net for Maritime during the second half as he picked up multiple tough saves to keep the game tied.
Rodriguez and the Privateers defense managed to force the game into overtime, and they continued to play stellar in both overtime periods as they forced a penalty shootout.
For the shootout, head coach Dan Gwyther turned to sophomore goalkeeper
Tim Nichols (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Francis) to close the deal.
Sean O'Neill (Highland Mills, N.Y./Cornwall Central) and
Denton Henry (Lindenhurst, NY/Jamaica) started the shootout by converting the first two attempts, but with the score tied at 2-2,
Frank Schmidt's (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) attempt hit the post and the Privateers trailed halfway through the deciding penalty kicks.
Thomas Luongo (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches) kept Maritime in it on the fourth attempt and then luckily the favor was returned on the Valiants fourth attempt which hit the post and the two teams entered their fifth player tied at three.
Luis Jiminez made the fifth attempt for Maritime, but Manhattanville was able to answer to send it to each team's sixth player. Sblendorio calmly stepped up to the ball and buried the shot to give Nichols another chance at winning the game. The West Seneca, NY native did just that as he dove to his right and stopped the shot attempt to vault the sixth-seeded Privateers into the championship matchup.
Maritime will travel to Mount Saint Mary on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1:00 p.m. for their first appearance in the Skyline Conference championship game since 2011. Relive the magic of the penalty kick shootout below!
