Rams Advance to ECAC Semifinal's

Farmingdale State - 2, Old Westbury - 1

Old Westbury, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State men's soccer team defeated Old Westbury, 2-1, in the ECAC Quarterfinals today and now advance to the ECAC Semifinals. The Rams will face top-seed Rutgers-Newark at 7:00 p.m on Saturday, November 14th in Newark, N.J.

The Panthers scored the opening goal at 35:41 when Donny Alerte sent home a pass from Fabian Santibanez for the 1-0 lead. Farmingdale would respond just 11 seconds later, as sophomore midfielder Ryan Lang (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) served a ball in front to sophomore forward Joseph Catanzarite (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) for the game-tying goal. The teams took a 1-1 tie into the haltime break.

The Rams dominated the second half, but could not connect as the Old Westbury goalkeeper made 12 saves in the half. But with under a minute remaining in regulation play, Farmingdale junior defender Mat Arthurs (Islip Terrace, N.Y./East Islip) sent a ball up to junior forward Alex Mendolia (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East), who shot into the lower right corner for a 2-1 lead with 44 seconds left.

Rams senior goalkeeper Patrick Gubbins (East Patchogue, N.Y./Bellport) made five saves in the win, while Panthers goalkeeper Jonathan Aiola made 17 saves in defeat.

Farmingdale advances to the ECAC Metro Semifinals, for the second straight season, holding a 9-8-1 record. The semifinal winners will play on Sunday, November 15th at 7:00 p.m for the 2009 Division III ECAC Metro Men's Soccer Championship.

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