One hundred and ten minutes wasn't enough to decide things between the Eagles and the Madonna Crusaders after it ended all tied at 1-1. The Eagles survived a penalty shootout 4-2 to advance to the second round of the NAIA National Tournament.
The Crusaders got on the board in the 20th minute when they were awarded a penalty kick after being fouled inside the box. They converted the penalty to take a 1-0 lead. The Eagles ramped up their offensive attack and had several chances towards the end of the first half to find the equalizer, but nothing went in the goal.
Williams found the equalized quickly in the second half. In the 46th minute the Eagles were awarded a free kick in a dangerous area. After it was flicked into the box by Tiago Alfieri, Daniel Oliveira got his head to the ball and sent it to the lower right corner.
From this point, both teams pressed their attacks and tried to find the game-winner, but nothing came for either side.
After playing regulation and the two overtime periods, it came down to penalty kicks.
Head coach Gabriel Sitibaldi made a switch at goal keeper and sent in Rodrigo Pina to defend his goal. The Crusaders kicked first and sent their first shot high and over the cross bar. Gabriel de Paula was the first kicker for the Eagles and he neatly slotted home his shot. The next two Crusaders made their shots, while Lucas Camilo and Gabriel Otero did the same for the Eagles. The fourth Crusader to kick missed his shot, so that meant if the Eagles made their next one that they would win. Alfieri stepped up to the spot and nailed his kick to send the Eagles to the second round.
"We faced a very difficult opponent today. We had some good chances to finish the game, but the ball did not go in. We battled hard to get the result and I am very pleased with all the players' effort. The boys deserve the win and I am very happy for this group," Sitibaldi remarked following the game.
Jorge Gisbert played the full 110 minutes in the goal for the Eagles and collected five saves in the game.
Original source can be found here.
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