Through nearly 60 minutes of play, on Thursday, No. 21 Notre Dame College was not able to get a shot off against No. 12 Davis & Elkins College. Trailing 2-0, with six minutes to play, the Falcons mounted one of the most impressive comebacks in program history. NDC scored in the 84th minute and the 87th minute to tie the contest and, after 20 minutes of overtime, advanced to the MEC Championship game by converting on three penalty kicks.
Davis & Elkins, the two seed in the MEC Tournament, shot the ball seven times in the first 45 minutes. The Mountain East Conference Offensive Player of the Year Christhian Bosquez sent a shot on target in the 27th and 34th minute, but was turned away both times by Pedro Alves.
Alves would end the game with five saves, one shy of his season-high.
In the second half, the Senators continued to attack and they finally broke through. Less than two minutes after halftime, D&E worked the ball to the left side of the box and Dominique Castano snuck one past Alves to break the scoreless draw.
From a goal kick in the 53rd minute, Davis & Elkins sent the ball quickly up the field to Daniel Cerezo, who lobbed a shot into the air, over Alves' head and bouncing into the net to put Davis & Elkins up 2-0.
Freshman Simao Coelho took the Falcons' first shot of the night, in the 60th minute. Sophomore Ailton Fagner Silva, who had two goals in the previous game, also put a shot on target, six minutes later. D&E's Beltran Fernandez saved both shots.
Following an NDC corner kick, neither team could gain control. As they fought for the ball, Davis & Elkins was called for a foul in the box. In a move that would foreshadow the end of the game, sophomore Marcus Vinicius Pereira took the penalty kick, and put the Falcons on the board.
Still trailing by a goal, about four minutes later, the Falcons were ready to strike and had the Senators on their heels. Approaching the end line, junior Antonio Bittencourt crossed the ball into the middle of the box. Senior Ned Dry had snuck behind the defense and was there with an open shot that he scored on to knot the game up at two.
Davis & Elkins had opportunities in the two overtime periods and Alves made another big stop in the 97th minute.
In a penalty kick shootout, Vinicius Pereira stepped up first for NDC and put one in the back of the net, after D&E's Davide Materazzi was successful on his attempt.
After Alves made a big save, diving to his right, sophomore Taylor Dyson came up clutch with a successful attempt to put Notre Dame in front. The Senators tied it up after a make and an NDC miss.
Then, D&E missed wide right and Ned Dry went upper right corner to give NDC a 3-2 lead in the shootout.
Josh Gabriel stepped into the box and sent a shot to the right, as every Senator did in the shootout, missing wide of the post and NDC completed the comeback and the upset.
No. 6 Charleston, the top seed in the MEC Tournament, defeated four seed Wheeling, 3-0. The Falcons will travel to meet the Golden Eagles on Nov. 6, at 3 p.m.
Original source can be found here.
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