WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – He did it again! For the second time this postseason, Kory Nekoloff had the overtime magic touch and it propelled Southeastern University over No. 11 and top-seeded Keiser University, 2-1 in double overtime, in the Sun Conference Semifinals.
After one scoreless extra period, the Fire would not be denied. Elia Michelotti intercepted a Seahawk pass, fed it through to Nekoloff, who belted it past the keeper for the game-winner.
The SEU defense played a big part in the winning result. Goalie Esteban Navarrete turned away eight of the nine shots on goal he faced and the defense held against 27 total shots by Keiser.
SEU made it known they were ready to play from the start. On the match's first shot of the day, Liam Fisch played a give-and-go to-and-from Nekoloff before Fisch put the ball in the near side netting at 2:41.
Keiser pelted Navarrete with four shots on the SEU net, including one immediately after the goal (3:23), while Nekoloff hit two shots on th Seahawk goal (10:55 and 13:56).
It looked like the Fire were going to close it out in regulation, but Keiser tied the match, 1-1, with just 5:51 left to play. The Seahawks kept the pressure on, but the regulation ended tied at one.
The Fire made the third time a charm against the Seahawks (8-3-3). Keiser took the first match on September 18 in West Palm Beach by a 4-1 final and the teams played to a 0-0 deadlock on October 23.
With the win, the Fire (10-3-3) advance to their first Sun Conference Championship match since 2018 against the winner of No. 2 SCAD/No. 3 St. Thomas match played later on Monday evening.
