No. 5 Albany battled No. 4 Vermont to a scoreless tie before the Great Danes advanced to the semifinals of the 2005 America East Men’s Soccer Championship via penalty kicks, 5-4, on Saturday afternoon at Centennial Field in Burlington, Vt. Albany moves on to face No. 1 Stony Brook on Wednesday, November 9 at 7 p.m. in New York.

With 110 minutes of regulation featuring very evenly played action, it was only fitting for penalty kicks to follow the same theme. The first four penalty kick participants for both teams sent their shots to the back of the net. For Albany, Stephan Hall, Tufi Long, Brad Ray and Rodrigo Mario all netted their kicks, while Vermont’s Matt Chew, Jesse Brady-Searby, Panos Georgiadis and Danny Broughan did the same. All eight of the shots were clean goals, with the exception of Broughan’s, which deflected off Albany goalkeeper Steward Ceus’ hand before finding its way to the back of the net.

Albany’s Yan Gbolo then stepped to the box for a crucial attempt for the Great Danes. Gbolo did not disappoint as he netted his shot to the top-right corner of the goal. UVM’s Corey Bronner was up next for the Catamounts with a chance to extend the match to a second round of penalty kicks. Bronner’s shot missed wide right and the Great Danes advanced to the league’s semifinals.

The Great Danes advance a game in the America East Championship for the first time in school history. The tough elimination for Vermont mark the second-straight season the Catamounts have lost a penalty kick shootout on their own field in the first round of the America East Championship. Last season UVM was dealt the same blow by Stony Brook.

The winner of the America East Championship earns the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The men’s soccer selection announcement is scheduled to be held on Monday, November 14 live on ESPNews (4-4:30 p.m.).

SCORING
None

SHOTS
Albany: 11
Vermont: 9

CORNER KICKS
Albany: 1
Vermont: 6

SAVES
Albany: Steward Ceus (110:00, 3 saves)
Vermont: Roger Scully (110:00, 2 saves)