RADNOR, PA – Junior
Josh Cunningham scored two goals in the final 1:59 to lead the Cabrini men's soccer team to a thrilling 2-1 victory over Wesley in tonight's Atlantic East Conference Tournament semifinal at Edith Robb Dixon Field.
With tonight's win, the top seeded Cavaliers (10-7-1) made their reservation for a fifth consecutive conference championship appearance. The Blue and White will host number two seed Immaculata (8-9-2) in Saturday's championship match, after the Mighty Macs scored a penalty shootout victory in tonight's other semifinal.
Despite outshooting the visitors 7-2 in the opening 45 minutes, the Cavaliers could not find the back of the net.
The Wolverines broke the scoreless deadlock in the 57th minute, when sophomore Justin John-Langba redirected a pass from freshman Joseph Esubalew for the game's first goal.
The Cavaliers pressed for the game-tying goal, recording all 10 of its second half shots after the Wesley goal.
As the time dwindled, the Blue and White took advantage of 88th minute Wesley foul. Junior
Brahk Morrison's free kick service found Cunningham whose header beat the outstretched arms of Wolverines' goaltender Jason Sommer.
With the game seemingly headed to overtime, the Cavaliers took advantage of another Wesley foul with just 30 seconds to play. This time it was sophomore
Dakota Bauer's service that found Cunningham for the winning goal.
The Cavaliers owned an 17-8 advantage in shots on the night, with both teams recording four shots on goal. The home side also attempted six corner kicks to three for the Wolverines.
Senior
Chris Araujo led the Cavaliers with four shots, one more than freshman
Matt Duddy. Cunningham, who has scored four goals in his last two games, joined senior
Andre Justin and junior
Dani Acevedo with two shots each.
Junior goaltender
Anthony Zampirri tallied three saves to secure the victory.
John-Langba accounted for three Wesley shots, while Sommer recorded a pair of saves in the loss.
The Blue and White scored a 3-1 win at Immaculata when the teams met during the regular season.
Goals by freshman
Tyler Tomlin and Bauer gave the Cavaliers a 2-1 halftime lead before Justin's 72nd minute penalty kick iced the victory.
The Blue and White outshot the Mighty Macs 12-8, including a 7-3 advantage in the first half. Cabrini also recorded 10 corner kicks to just four for Immaculata.
Justin and Booth recorded three shots each, one more than junior
Ray Wilson. Senior goaltender
Mike Gould recorded a pair of saves to earn his second win of the season.
Goaltender Mike Kalpocas suffered the loss for the Mighty Macs despite four saves. Josh Fonder scored for the Mighty Macs on one of his team-high two shots.