RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Wilmington (Del.) University captured the 2007 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference men's soccer championship by defeating Holy Family University, 5-3, in a penalty-kick shootout on Saturday night, hosted by Felician College at Tryon Field. The shootout followed the teams' 1-1, double-overtime draw in the CACC Tournament's championship game.
No. 2 seed Wilmington (12-5-2), which was shooting first, converted all five of its kicks in the shootout. The key play came in the second round, when Wildcat goalkeeper Dan Mangat (Newark, DE) stopped Holy Family's Jim Latronica (Levittown, PA). Sophomore Sargbah Tarpeh (Philadelphia, PA) converted in Round 5 to lock up Wilmington's first CACC title since at least 1993, the first year records are available.
Despite the No. 4 seed Tigers' 11-4 first-half shot advantage, it was the Wildcats who took a 1-0 lead into halftime on a Joe Stant (Dover, DE) tally in the 38th minute. However, Steve Kientzy (Philadelphia, PA) of Holy Family got free on a breakaway to tie the score 3:25 into the second period. The Tigers, who hit the crossbar once in each half, were unable to take further advantage of their 31-17 shot advantage for the night.
Mangat was named the tournament's most valuable player following a nine-save performance. Ben Roller (Philadelphia, PA) had six saves for the Tigers (14-7-2).
The results of the tournament and the All-Tournament team are listed below.
Quarterfinals, Monday, Oct. 29
#3 Caldwell 2, #6 Bloomfield 0
#4 Holy Family 4, #5 Post 1
Semifinals, Wednesday, Oct. 31, at Tryon Field, Rutherford, NJ
Holy Family 1, #1 Dominican 0
#2 Wilmington 1, Caldwell 0 - OT
Championship, Saturday, Nov. 3, at Tryon Field, Rutherford, NJ
Wilmington 1, Holy Family 1 (Wilmington wins PK Shootout, 5-3)
All-Tournament Team
Dan Mangat, Wilmington -MVP
Billy Curran, Wilmington
Joe Stant, Wilmington
Sargbah Tarpeh, Wilmington
Fatoma Turay, Wilmington
Ed Szambelak, Holy Family
Steve Kientzy, Holy Family
Sean Hordijenko, Holy Family
Robert Kelly, Dominican
Diego Barahona, Dominican
Chad Bennett, Caldwell
Jan Marco Jiras, Caldwell
Jose Ramos, Bloomfield
Raleigh Woodburn, Post