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WAYNE, N.J. – The Pioneers led for 52 minutes during regulation, but the Violets of New York University (9-7-3) came from behind and defeated the William Paterson men's soccer team (11-6-4) in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinal round of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Men's Soccer Championship, Sunday, Nov. 12 at Pioneer Soccer Park.
 
Senior JP Gonzales (Paterson, N.J./Passaic County Tech) netted two goals in the first half in his final collegiate contest, and also converted his attempt in the penalty shootout, but the effort was not enough for WP who saw its season come to an end with the loss.
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Kyle Quigley (Columbus, N.J./Northern Burlington Regional) made seven saves on the afternoon, his second-highest total of the season (Nine vs. Rutgers-Newark on Oct. 25). On the opposite end, Grant Engel also made seven stops for NYU, and also made a huge save in the penalty shootout to help down the Pioneers.
 
The Pioneers took control of the match early Sunday, opening the scoring in the 18th minute when sophomore Keysean-Brant Sharp was dragged down on the left side of the penalty area. The foul set the stage for Gonzales to put home his 10th goal of the season on the ensuing penalty kick, placing the shot just under the bar in the top left corner to put WP ahead, 1-0. Two minutes later, Brant-Sharp set up Gonzales for his second tally of the afternoon. Brant-Sharp again drew a foul on the left side of the pitch, this time just two yards outside of the penalty area. Gonzales stepped up and curled a shot just over the reach of an outstretched Engel inside the far post, giving WP a 2-0 advantage in the 20th minute of action.
 
The Violets were not about to let William Paterson continue to build momentum however. Less than two minutes after Gonzales' second strike of the day, Matteo Carrieri Russo sent a through ball between two Pioneer defenders, finding a cutting Tristan Medios-Simon who touched the pass past a charging Quigley to cut the deficit in half, a score that carried into the halftime break.
 
In the second half, the Violets came out as the aggressors once again, firing three shots on target before finally breaking through in the 76th minute. After Quigley made a save on a shot by Nic Notaro along the left post, Medios-Simon collected the rebound and deposited the ball into an open net to level the scoring at 2-2. The Pioneer defense was tested often over the final 15 minutes, fending off four shots in the final five minutes, including an incredible diving stop by Quigley in the 87th minute, to keep the score tied and force overtime.
 
In the first extra period, Brant-Sharp recorded two shots, but could not find the back of the net and with the score tied after ten minutes of action, the two teams headed to the second overtime period. The Violets recorded the only two shots of the stanza, coming within inches of ending the game when Carrieri-Russo drilled the left post from 20 yards out, but the score remained tied, forcing a penalty shootout to determine who would advance to the semifinal round of the championship.
 
Medios-Simon took the first attempt of the shootout for NYU, converting the penalty kick in the lower-left corner of the goal to put NYU up, 1-0. Gonzales followed up the attempt with a successful kick himself, placing a shot in the lower-right corner to level the shootout, 1-1. The Violets took the advantage again when Ricardo Mitrano placed a shot in nearly an identical spot as Medios-Simon to make it 2-1.
 
The turning point of the shootout came on WP's next attempt, when sophomore Cameron Allen (Old Bridge, N.J./Saint John Vianney) hit the crossbar on the team's second attempt. Quigley guessed correctly on NYU's next shot, but Robert Shellow put a perfectly-placed shot in the upper-right corner, out of reach of the sophomore keeper to make it 3-1, Violets. On WP's next attempt, it was Engel coming up huge with a stop on Brant-Sharp, diving to his left to make the save and putting NYU in position to advance with a successful attempt in the fourth round. Inder Sharma stepped up for the Violets' and put home a shot inside the right post to push the Violets into next weekend's semifinal round.
 
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