Gators Win First Ever NCAC Championship

Nov 6, 2004

Boxscore

Wooster, Ohio - In a hard fought game, the Allegheny Gator men’s soccer team came out on top against Denison (Ohio) University by way of penalty kicks (5-3) on Saturday afternoon. The win gives the Gators their first ever NCAC Tournament Championship and a berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Allegheny had their chances in the first half, including a shot by senior forward Marc Sciulli (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) but Denison’s Ben Stevens made a one handed save in the 20th minute. The Gators then had back-to-back corner kicks in the 27th minute; the first shot attempt was knocked away while the second was wide of the goal.

Denison opened the second half on the offensive and had two corner kicks of their own in the first five minutes, both of which were cleared by the Allegheny defense.

Denison’s Stevens then made a save on a header by Sciulli in the 65th minute of play keeping the score knotted at zero.

With six minutes to play, Allegheny senior midfielder Ben Montgomery (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) was given a red card, forcing the Gators to play a man down for the remainder of play.

It seemed like the Gators had a golden opportunity with 7:50 to play in the second overtime, when senior forward Jason Figura (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) put a pass across the box from the right side when the keeper came out but no one was around to finish for Allegheny.

In the shootout, the first three pairs all made their attempts. Shooting for Allegheny was freshman Eric Sloan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon), Figura, and senior Josh Johnson (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional). In the fourth round, freshman Jeremy Garbutt (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School) gave Allegheny a 4-3 advantage and looked on as Allegheny keeper Brian Manougian (Rye, N.H.) would make a diving save to his left to preserve the advantage and leave things to be sealed by the fifth shooter. Fittingly, the fifth shooter was Sciulli, who had his chances all game. The Gator senior finalized the win and punched AC’s ticket to the NCAA playoffs with a shot to the bottom left corner.

Manougian finished the 110 minutes with four saves as Stevens made 10 saves for Denison. This was Manougian’s fourth consecutive shutout and seventh overall for the Gators.

Following a 3-1 loss to Denison on October 9th, the Gators were 4-6-1 but finished the regular season with five wins in six games to make the NCAC Tournament. The Gators will now wait to see who their next opponent is as the NCAA seeding is made Sunday.

All-Tournament Team
Marc Sciulli - Most Valuable Player
Jason Figura
Brian Manougian
Eric Sloan

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