WILLIMANTIC, Conn. - Following 110 scoreless minutes, junior Kyle Bedini (Manchester), and sophomores Maxim Fantl (West Hartford) and Nicholas Boretti (Marshfield, MA) converted penalty kick goals and senior keeper Jay Barney (Mansfield) came through with two saves to lift the Eastern Connecticut State University men's soccer team to a 3-2 shootout victory over Keene State College for its first Little East Conference championship Sunday morning at Thomas Nevers Field.  The game is officially recorded as a tie.

By advancing past Keene State (11-4-5) as the LEC titlist, top-seeded Eastern (11-6-3) qualifies for its first NCAA Division III tournament as the conference representative. It will be the team's first post-season appearance since 1992, when it lost a first-round decision in the ECAC New England tournament.

"You can't write the script any better than this, observed Barney, a four-year starter in goal who posted his fifth straight shutout this year, and 23rd of his career.  "Especially for my four years. Playing Keene State in the finals at home... Eastern had never beaten Keene in the Little East, and we were able to do that today," added the LEC Defensive Player-of-the-Year. "You have to give credit to everyone. Everyone on this team played great all year."

"We had numerous chances to score in regulation and in overtime, but when it goes into PKs, it's anyones ball game. And they got one more than we did," said KSC Coach Ron Butcher.

In the penalty-kick session, Boretti broke a 2-2 tie by converting the team's fifth and final shot for the game-winner. Keene scored twice on a leadoff goal by junior Alex Horne (Harvard, MA) and another by sophomore Mike Cooley (Northboro, MA)  that gave the Owls a 2-1 advantage. Keene also missed wide once, and Barney guessed correctly twice to make saves on Keene's second and fifth tries.

Eastern scored three times on PKs, and Keene senior keeper Cal Mintz (Westport) made saves on the other two shots. Bedini tied the score at 1-1 on Eastern's second shot, and Fantl tied the score 2-2 on the team's third shot. Mintz made his second save to keep the score tied at 2-2, but Barney preserved the tie when he dove to his left to bat away junior Ryan Farnsworth's (Merrimack, NH) bid. That set up Boretti for the clinching kick. Boretti took one measured step and laced the ball from the 12-yard mark toward the left post. Mintz guessed correctly by diving to his right, but the ball hit his right hand and rolled over the goal line.

Barney said that he liked the team's chances once the game headed into penalty kicks.

"I wanted it, we all wanted it," said Barney. "I knew that I could make a save or two, and we'd be able to win the game."

Prior to his  two saves in the PK session, Barney made nine saves through the first 110 minutes on his way to tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. Only one of Barney's saves came in overtime, but it was a big one that came against Horne - Keene's scoring leader -- with 7:38 left in the first ten-minute OT session. "I was lucky enough to make a quick, reaction save and get my hands there," said Barney, the LEC leader in goals-against average (0.61), save percentage (.891) and shutouts (7).

Midway through the second half, Keene nearly broke the stalemate when sophomore Scott Cluff (Kingston, MA) unloaded a sharp shot from the right side that just ran wide of the far left post.

"My angle was pretty good, so as soon as he hit it, I had a feeling that it was wide," noted Barney. "I saw the ball rolling back behind me, and I was hoping that no one was coming in, trailing the play."

Eastern wins the title under first-year head coach Greg DeVito, who took over the head job after serving as an assistant for two seasons. This year, the Warriors won their first LEC regular-season title since 1992 with a 5-1-1 record. They shut out Rhode Island College Wednesday, 1-0, for their first-ever LEC playoff win after opening losses in 1999, 2000 and 2001 and in 2004. Keene is a five-time playoff champion.

The teams had played to a 1-1 overtime draw during their regular-season matchup at Nevers Field.

The conference title is the second in as many days for Eastern, which won the volleyball championship Saturday afternoon as the tournament's No. 5 seed. The second-seeded women's soccer team lost in the LEC final at Western Connecticut Saturday night, 2-1.

(Courtesy ECSU Sports Information)