Stony Brook, N.Y. - Down two goals with under 20 minutes remaining in the second half, the Stony Brook men's soccer team staged a furious comeback to tie the game, and then junior Will Casey (Setauket, N.Y.) scored the game-winning goal in the 100th minute to lead the Seawolves to a 5-4 thrilling win over Binghamton in the quarterfinals of the America East Championship at LaValle Stadium.

No. 3 seeded Stony Brook (11-5-1) advances to play No. 2 seed UMBC in Baltimore Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Coach Ryan Anatol's Reaction
"Give the guys credit; it says a lot about their character to come back from down two goals with less than 20 minutes to play. We're excited to move on in this tournament and play again next week."

Goal Recaps

• In the 10th minute, senior Antonio Crespi (North Babylon, N.Y.) sends a pass into the box towards freshman Alejandro Fritz (Budapest, Hungary), who then one-times the pass over to senior Raphael Abreu (New York, N.Y.), who has an open look at the net and gets the ball past the Binghamton goalkeeper far post from about three yards out.
• In the 15th minute, Binghamton answers as Adam Whitehead booms a kick from about 32 yards away on the far side of the field that gains a directional boost from the wind and finds its way into the top near side corner of the net, unplayable by senior goalkeeper Stefan Manz (Bronx, N.Y.).
• In the 27th minute, a loose ball misplayed by a Binghamton defender ends up near Fritz, who collects the ball and wipes a hard swinging shot from one yard outside the box, that easily gets past the goalkeeper mid-far post.
• In the 38th minute, the Bearcats again play the long ball. Trey Jasenski takes a long shot from at least 25 yards out that smacks the crossbar, but the ball comes straight down and narrowly gets past the line for a goal.
• At exactly the 48-minute mark, Binghamton's Whitehead made a simple pass to Jake Keegan on the near side of the field, and Keegan found himself wide open for a blast shot. He swung and nailed the far corner of the net from 24 yards out.
• In the 62nd minute, Keegan chipped the ball into the box, but to the near side of the goal, over to Whitehead, who then crosses toward the net to find Steven Celeste for an easy header goal.
• In the 74th minute, senior Kyle Schlesinger (Selden, N.Y.) had a free kick, and his cross attempt made its way deep into the box, where senior Leonardo Fernandes (North Babylon, N.Y.) was waiting to make a point-blank kick past the BU goalkeeper.
• In the 90th minute with 44.5 seconds remaining on the clock, Schlesinger passed the ball into the box, where a scrum ensued. Abreu got a touch, and passed to Fritz, who had an open look and buried the equalizer.
• With 52.2 seconds left in the first overtime, Stony Brook notched the golden goal. Fernandes had a free kick on the near side of the field. He crossed into the box, and the loose ball found its way to Casey on the far side of the box, and he knocked in the ball on an open net to send SB to the semifinals.

The Numbers Game

 

• Stony Brook outshot Binghamton 21-14 and had more corner kicks 8-5.
• Fritz tied an America East Championship single-game record with two goals and five points. The record is also held by Fernandes, who reached the marks in the 2011 tournament final vs. Hartford.
• The five points for Fritz is a career high.
• With three points today, Fernandes became Stony Brook's all-time leader in points, eclipsing Tim Cusack's (1978-81) 78 points. Fernandes now has 79.
• Schlesinger's two assists moves him up to a tie for sixth all-time in Stony Brook history with 13.
• Manz made two brilliants saves towards the end of the game and had four total on the day.
• The nine combined goals sets a new America East Championship record.
• Stony Brook's five goals match a season high, also set in the season opener at Fairleigh Dickinson on Aug. 24.

News & Notes

• Stony Brook is now 6-0-2 all-time in playoff games at LaValle Stadium and 6-3-3 all-time in the America East Championship. 
• The Seawolves advance to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive season. Only once in the team's history has Stony Brook failed to reach the semifinals.
• Stony Brook is now 1-0-1 against Binghamton in the America East Championship. In the 2005 final, the two teams tied, but the Seawolves took home the championship in penalty kicks.
• The Seawolves improved to 18-2-1 under Anatol when scoring the game's first goal.
• Stony Brook's 11th win of the season gives the team its most since winning 13 in 2005.

Up Next
Stony Brook will play for a spot in the tournament final next Wednesday, Nov. 7 when the Seawolves play at UMBC in the semifinals at 7 p.m. The Seawolves will look to make up for a 1-0 home loss to the Retrievers in the regular season.