Perfect PK shootout gives BU CAC Championship in thriller

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- All five Bruins converted penalties and Taariq Ganga made the only save of the shootout as the Bellevue University men's soccer team edged out top-seeded and 14^th-ranked Florida National University, after playing to a 2-2 stalemate, in the 2023 Continental Athletic Conference Championship Match on Saturday evening.

Officially, Bellevue moves to 12-5-3 on the year and FNU sees their record go to 11-2-5. The Bruins record when conceding first goes to 2-5-2.

Bellevue secures their fourth-straight bid, and 10^th overall, to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round by secure the CAC's lone automatic qualifier. The Bruins will learn of their postseason destination during Monday's Selection Show (1 p.m.).

It was the third-straight season in which the CAC Championship Match featured FNU and Bellevue, with the Bruins having won the previous two, all of which leant to a physical, emotional affair.

FNU saw the first chance of the match arrive in the fourth minute, winning a corner kick. Bautista Dominguez sent an in-swinger that Taariq Ganga punched out while backpedaling into his net.

Bellevue saw their record shutout streak end at 641 minutes and three seconds as Manuel Rodriguez regained his footing and jetted in from the wing to beat Ganga high in the 11^th minute. The goal was the third of the season for Rodriguez.

On a free kick in the 15^th minute, Fletcher Hedge found the ball headed to him unmarked but he mis-hit his volley wide. As the game went back and forth, the Conquistadors' Marcos Bakale hit a volley at the other end that dipped under the bar but Ganga came up with an acrobatic save.

Jake Cover equalized in the 20^th minute, his third-straight CAC Tournament match with a goal. He carried the ball into the box, made a move to juke a defender and ripped a left-footed shot low to the short side for his fourth goal of the season.

Bellevue's pressure continued throughout the remainder of the half, maintaining virtually all of the attacking possession. It paid off in the 37^th minute as the Bruins won a throw in. Carlos Ortega Arguelles sent a ball into the box that met the head of Fletcher Hedge on the edge of the six and bounced out to Ombeni Mubake who hit a spinning volley from near the penalty spot for his first goal of the season and a 2-1 BU lead.

The Conquistadors won a free kick in a dangerous area in the 40^th minute, about 24 yards from goal. The free kick deflected off the six-man Bruin wall and out for a corner which led to the equalizing goal. Nicolas Martinez headed on the service into the box to Vinicius Mallmann who headed home his fourth goal of the year.

The 2-2 scoreline held into halftime with Bellevue holding advantages in shots (8-4) and corner kicks (6-3) while Florida National held a slight 4-3 edge in shots on goal.

FNU were the aggressors in the opening moments of the second half, pressing forward to set a tone and logging the first two shots out of the break.

Bellevue had a penalty shout in the 53^rd minute when a player went down in the box with his back to goal, but the referee determined play should continue.

Play began to get sloppy towards the middle portion of the second half as playing a second game in under 48 hours seemingly began to take a toll on the legs on both sides. The Bruins survived a near-catastrophic mistake in the 66^th minute with Ganga getting caught off his line, misjudging a ball but a BU center back cleared the bounding ball before it could find the back of the net.

Francisco Crimi made a determined move inside the Bruin area in the 71^st minute, eluding Ganga to work an angle for himself but Hedge stepped up and turned away his flick at goal.

Florida National had the best chance of the second half in the 87^th minute via a 3-on-1 counterattack but the lone man back, Cover, defended the ball perfectly preventing any sort of chance or a cross to keep the game level.

Antonio Capra with the clock winding down, got sprung on a counter attack and carried the ball into the 18 with about 10 seconds left but opted for a cross rather than attempting a shot and the game proceeded to overtime.

In the first extra period, FNU won a pair of consecutive corners with the second chested down by Mateo Cigaina in space but he overcooked his shot from 10 yards over the goal. Subsequent chances were minimal the remainder of the period.

Despite not being credited with a shot after the first half, BU advanced the game to penalties after snuffing out every half chance for FNU in extra time. The best chance came in the 106^th minute when Cigaina had his attempt blocked following a corner kick.

Penalty Shootout:

For his efforts, Jose-Miguel Boggio was named the CAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. He was joined on the CAC All-Tournament team by teammates Fletcher Hedge, Sebastian Zapata, and Jake Cover.