Massachusetts Battles With Saint Louis, Advances to Semifinals in Penalty Kicks

11/3/2023 10:37:00 PM

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Following 110 minutes of play that ended in a 2-2 draw, second-seeded Saint Louis and seventh-seed UMass went to PKs, and the Minutemen prevailed 4-3 to upset the Billikens to advance in the Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Soccer Championship.

UMass (7-5-6) moves on to the A-10 semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 8. SLU (8-4-5) will learn its postseason fate next Monday, Nov. 13, during the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship selection show.

After a scoreless first half, the Minutemen struck first in the 48th minute when A-10 leading scorer Alec Hughes scored to make it 1-0 UMass.

But SLU responded with a pair of goals by Mads Stistrup Petersen. He scored his first of the game in the 56th minute off of assists by Seth Anderson and Carlos Leatherman. Stistrup Petersen made it 2-1 SLU with another strike in the 66th minute, with Christian Buendia and Anderson once again assisting on the play.

In the 75th minute, it was Nick Zielonka's turn to equalize as he found the back of the net to make it 2-2.

That remained the score through two 10-minute overtime periods to set up the PK shootout to decide it.

The first five rounds ended in a 3-3 tie, bringing the teams to sudden-death rounds. UMass Andrew Ortiz made his chance, then UMass keeper Matt Zambetti stopped the ensuing SLU chance to send the Minutemen into the A-10 semifinals.