Junior Atha Kirkopoulos scored in the 88th minute to break a 1-1 tie and lead Northeastern to its first America East Men’s Soccer Championship with a 2-1 win over Vermont at Parsons Field. The Huskies, 11-7-2, advance to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship for the first time in school history.
Kirkopoulos, the America East Offensive Player of the Year, collected a long lead pass from Michael Cipriano and blasted a 15-yarder by Vermont goalkeeper Ryan Corry for his ninth goal of the season.
Kirkopoulos had helped Northeastern to a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute when he served a corner kick into the box and Joe Parrish headed the ball by Corry for his second goal of the season. Kirkopoulos, who also had a goal in the 3-1 semifinal win over New Hampshire last Saturday, was named the championship’s Most Outstanding Player.
Vermont had tied the game early in the second half when T.J. Mead sent Matt Chavez in alone and Chavez put a low 15-yarder by Northeastern goalkeeper Sergio Saccoccio in the 47th minute.
Saccoccio finished with two saves for the Huskies. Corry had four saves for the Catamounts, 11-7-1.
Kirkopolous was joined on the all-championship team by teammates Cipriano, Nate Houghton and Jochen Beck; Keli Helgason, Tim Parisi and Adam Wallace of Vermont, Eric Masi and Brendan Hankard of New Hampshire and Ryan Carr and Jonathan Clark of Hartford.
Northeastern awaits the pairings and brackets for the 48-team NCAA Championship. Those announcements will be made at 4:30 p.m. ET on Monday on ESPN News.
Northeastern (11-7-2) 1 1 -- 2
Vermont (11-7-1) 0 1 -- 1
Scoring
First Half
Joe Parrish-2 (Atha Kirkopoulos) 27:00
Second Half
VT- Matt Chavez-2 (T.J. Mead) 46:28
NU-Kirkopoulos-9 (Michael Cipriano) 87:03
Shots: Northeastern 8, Vermont 9
Corner Kicks: Northeastern 7, Vermont 6
Saves: Northeastern (Sergio Saccoccio, 90:00, 2); Vermont (Ryan Corry, 90:00, 4)