NEWARK, N.J. (11/3/21) – Dominic Ridge made three stops during a penalty kicks shootout and five in regulation as the third seed Kean University men's soccer team advanced to the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship game via penalty kicks (3-2) over the second seed Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday evening.

Nikolaos Theoudoulidis scored for the Cougars who improve to 12-4-2 overall and will host fourth seed Rowan in the NJAC Championship game on Saturday. Erick Morales scored for the Scarlet Raiders who fall to 12-4-4 overall.

Newark struck first when Morales scored off a feed from Joe Alba in the 16^th minute. Kean answered in the 30^th minute when Theoudoulidis notched his sixth goal of the season.

The Scarlet Raiders had an opportunity to make it 2-1 in the 37^th minute when Newark earned a penalty kick after a yellow card was issued to Ridge. Ridge stopped a PK attempted by the NJAC Offensive Player of the Year Franco Catania and the game remained tied 1-1 into halftime.

The contest remained scoreless for the final 65 minutes as both sides combined for nine shots over the second half and two overtime periods.

In the shootout, both sides missed on their first attempt before converting on their second. Isaac Guerrero knocked home his attempt and Ridge stopped an Adonis Scotland shot to lead 2-1. David Garcia gave Kean a 3-1 lead, but Anthony Oliveira kept Newark alive at 3-2 after making his attempt. After a Cougar miss, Ridge stonewalled a Christian Nunez shot to seal the victory.

Newark led on shots (13-12), shots on goal (6-5) and corner kicks (3-1).

Theoudoulidis, Matt O'Shea and Sadeiki Roberts all tallied three shots apiece.

The Cougars will make their first appearance in the title game since they won the NJAC Championship as a sixth seed in 2010. Ironically, the Cougars defeated the second seed William Paterson by a shootout in the NJAC semifinals during that playoff run.

Head Coach Peter-John Falloon and the Cougars will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 6^th, hosting the sixth seed Profs of Rowan University in the NJAC Championship game at 5:00 p.m.