WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (Nov. 12, 2010) – Senior Sean O'Reilly (Front Royal,Va./Seton) (Front Royal, Va. / Seton) picked a good time for his first career two-goal game as he notched both tallies to lead the Saint Francis men's soccer team to a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory over No. 2 seed Sacred Heart in the semifinals of the 2010 Northeast Conference Championship on Friday afternoon.

O'Reilly's team-best third game-winner of the year came at 95 minutes, 58 seconds in the first overtime to advance the Red Flash into the league's championship game for the third time in the past five years, and first time since 2007. O'Reilly was named the Snyder's Pretzels Player-of-the-Game for his efforts.

Saint Francis recorded its school-record 11^th win of the season to improve to 11-6-1 overall. It also marked the 31^st career win for fourth-year head coach Michael Casper, who moved into a tie for second on the school's all-time wins list with his predecessor, and mentor, B.J. Craig.

SFU, which is the third seed in the tournament, will play tournament-host and No. 1 seed Monmouth, at Noon on Sunday on The Great Lawn in West Long Branch, N.J.

“Our boys have been resilient all year,” said Saint Francis head coach Michael Casper. “One of the words that we use all the time is 'believe.' As difficult as it was to see (Sacred Heart's) goal go in, we believed and we got it done.”

Sophomore goalkeeper Daniel Valcicak (Herndon, Va./Gonzaga College) (Herndon, Va. / Gonzaga College) stopped four shots for his 10^th win of the season.

O'Reilly scored the game-winner off a scramble in front of the net after senior Owen Gombami (Pumula North Bulawayo, Simbabwe/Mzilikazi) (Pumula North Bulawayo, Zimbabwe / Mzilikazi) tapped a pass back to him from the end line. O'Reilly's fought off a defender and blasted his fifth goal of the season into the right side of the net from about eight yards out to send the Red Flash into a wild celebration.

“Sometimes you just get the lucky bounce,” said O'Reilly, who now has five goals and 11 points on the season. “The bounce came to me today and I tried to put it away. That's what I did. Shout out to my teammates. They put all of the hard work in as well, and they deserve this just as much as I do.”

O'Reilly, who is enjoying his finest season in a Saint Francis uniform, got the game's first goal at 15:22 when he one-timed a shot from just outside the corner of the 18-yard box. Junior Kingsley McLeod (Rocky Mount, N.C./Rocky Mount) (Rocky Mount, N.C. / Rocky Mount) played a corner kick into the box that was knocked out. However, the ball bounced in O'Reilly's direction and he placed a perfect floater from left to right to the far post from about 25 yards out. It was O'Reilly's fourth goal of the season, and just a precursor of things to come.

“We practice corners a lot and my job is to take it to the back post and collect that second ball if it comes over,” O'Reilly said. “It came over to me, and I just tried to hit the far post.”

The Red Flash appeared on their way to a shutout victory, but Patrick Daka had other ideas as he tied the game at 75:31 when he gathered a loose ball inside the 18-yard box and put it into the lower right corner to make it 1-1.

However, SFU handled the pressure as it has all year and improved to 3-2-1 in extra sessions in 2010.

“We were a bit disappointed in the second half because we sat back a bit,” Casper said. “Sacred Heart is a good side. That's what we talked about (during the break between regulation and overtime). We wanted to bring the game to them. We wanted to see if we could get the game into their half of the field. Credit to our boys for doing that and coming up with a big goal.”

The Red Flash had a 12-10 edge in shots, while both teams had six corner kicks. Sacred Heart finished its season with an 11-6-2 record.

Saint Francis, making its fourth-ever appearance in the Northeast Conference Men's Soccer Championships, will go to the league championship game for the third time in program history. Monmouth is 13-1-4 overall after defeating No. 4 seed Fairleigh Dickinson, 1-0, in Friday's first semifinal match.

“Monmouth is a fantastic side,” Casper said. “They are deservedly in the final, and we are excited about being there and playing them again. It's be a battle and hopefully we can play our best game.”

For periodic men's soccer updates and other Red Flash news, follow Director of Athletic Communications Bob Volkert on Twitter at SFUVolkert.