Stevens Wins Empire 8 Title in Final 16 seconds
Charles O'Brien
HOBOKEN, N.J. (November 4, 2017) – Senior
Jonas Melendez's desperation strike in the 90th minute found the back of the net to send the Stevens Institute of Technology men's soccer team into the NCAA Tournament with a 1-0 victory over The Sage Colleges Saturday night in the Empire 8 Conference Championship.
Stevens won its 10th Empire 8 title since joining the league in 2007. The Ducks improved to 18-0-2 all-time in E8 tournament play. Junior
Nicholas Cousillas was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after leading the effort to hold the conference's top scorer, River Seybolt, without a shot on goal. Seybolt, who netted both goals in Sage's semifinal win over Nazareth, entered the match with 16 goals in 17 matches. The conference championship is first under head coach
Dale Jordan
With time winding down in the match and overtime looking like a near certainty, the Ducks earned a throw-in from the near sideline. Freshman
Kevin Brito received the ball with 20 seconds to play and threw it towards the middle of the pitch, where multiple players from both sides made unsuccessful attempts to play the ball into or out of danger. The ball caromed to Melendez, who was situated away from the pack, and the senior defender found the loose ball with his right foot and sent it past a sprawling Michael Chiaravalloti into the net. The championship-winning marker was the first career goal for the Old Bridge, New Jersey native and sent the team into a wild celebration on the field.
Junior
Aaron Henry made three saves in earning his seventh clean sheet of the season and his second in as many nights. With the victory, Stevens improved to 11-6-2.
Chiaravalloti made six saves for Sage, who reached the E8 championship match in its first season as a conference member. The Gators fell to 10-6-2.
Inside the Numbers
- After being outshot over the first 45 minutes, Stevens controlled play for the second 45. The Ducks outshot the Gators 16-3 to finish with a 23-12 margin over the course of the match.
- Seybolt finished with a match-high six shots, but none required a touch from Henry.
- Each team earned four corners. Sage earned all four in the first half, while Stevens earned its four in the second.
- Junior Daniel Aversano and freshman Cristiano Hocken each recorded two shots on goal to lead all players.
- A physical affair, the teams totaled 32 fouls, six yellow cards and one red card.