MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.—Southeastern pushed NAIA No. 5 St. Thomas for 110 minutes and kept the Bobcats off the scoresheet, but came up short in penalty kicks to move to 11-4-4 on the year.
St. Thomas won the penalty shootout 5-4 in six rounds to advance back to The Sun Conference Championship match on Friday.
Eight saves by keeper
Carlos Curado were key in keeping the Fire in the contest, standing tall against 13 second half shots and made a stop with just over a minute to play in the second overtime to ensure the shootout.
Southeastern generated opportunities and created five corner kick situations against a team that had yielded just four goals all season long which was second-fewest nationally. The Fire totaled 11 total shots with six on frame.
In the shootout, St. Thomas built a 2-1 lead through two shooters, but a stop by Curado and a make by
Vittorio Sasso evened things up in the third round. A shot by
Gianluca Contegno was deflected just wide of the post on the sixth attempt to give the Bobcats the win.
Southeastern will await an at-large bid possibility when the 40-team field for the NAIA National Championship First and Second Round is released on Monday.
