BOX SCORE

Goalkeeper Michael Murphy saved a penalty kick in the first overtime and striker Vincent Cruz scored his second goal of the match in the second overtime to lift the men’s soccer to an exciting 3-2 victory over the College of Staten Island on Wednesday night at the Met Oval in Maspeth, New York.

With the result, the Bearcats end a three-match losing streak to improve to 4-2-1 (13 pts) in CUNYAC, while the Dolphins of Staten Island suffer their fifth consecutive loss to drop to 3-4 (9 pts) in the conference standings.

The Bearcats are now assured of a top four finish in CUNYAC and will host a quarterfinal round playoff match on Wednesday, October 26, at the Met Oval with a time/opponent to be announced.

Baruch freshman and Staten Island native Arlind Stafaj opened the scoring with a tap-in goal in the 36th minute off a Boris Lipsman assist for the 1-0 lead.

The Dolphins tied the match six minutes later on a corner kick goal by Philip Szumanski for a 1-1 halftime score.

The two teams battled hard in the second half and the visiting Dolphins were able to score the go-head goal in the 75th minute with Dogan Altunsoy firing a shot just outside the box for the 2-1 advantage.

The match appeared headed for a 2-1 loss, but Cruz tied the match with four minutes left in regulation off a long ball assist from Nicholas Kolaj for a 2-2 tie to force sudden death overtime for the fourth time this season.

In the sixth minute of the first overtime, Baruch was whistled for a foul in the box and that awarded a penalty kick to the Dolphins with the chance to win. However, Murphy dived to his left to save the penalty shot to bring the team back from the brink of defeat.

During the second overtime period, Cruz tallied his game-winning goal in the fifth minute. The ball bounced off a Staten Island defender and Cruz perfectly timed a volley shot to fire the ball into the back of the net to end the exciting CUNYAC match that featured no yellow or red cards.

The two goals scored by Cruz raise his team-leading total to eight during the current regular season.

The men’s soccer team will return action on Saturday, October 15, with a 12:30 pm CUNYAC road contest at the Cougars of Medgar Evers College. Kick off at the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn is scheduled for 12:30 pm.