The men's soccer team barely slipped by Stony Brook Thursday night with a 1-0 double overtime win in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Stevenson Field.
Sean Rosa '12 hit the game-winning goal in the 103rd minute, his first goal since a two-goal performance against Princeton on Oct. 10. The Bears (11-2-5) reach the second round of the tournament for the first time since 2007 and will face off with No. 5 North Carolina (13-2-3) on Sunday afternoon in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Brown entered the contest fresh off a 3-0 win over Dartmouth last Saturday and came out with the same offensive intensity against the Seawolves (6-10-4), tallying a 14-4 shot advantage in the first half. In the 11th and 23rd minutes, Nick Elenz-Martin '10 received a cross from the left side to the far post, but could not convert on either attempt.
Due to excellent defensive play on both sides of the field, neither the Bears nor the Seawolves could execute any scoring chances. So the game headed into overtime, tied at 0-0 at the end of regulation.
After 100 minutes of play, the Bears had one more overtime period to settle the game before it came down to decisive penalty kicks. Jonathan Okafor '11 beat his defender going down the left sideline and popped the ball over the defense along the goal line. Rosa waited patiently in the open at the opposite post and drilled the ball into the back of the net for the golden goal and his fifth goal of the season, tying him with Elenz-Martin, Thomas McNamara '13 and Austin Mandel '12 as team scoring leaders.
Paul Grandstrand '11 kept the Seawolves off the scoreboard, tallying five saves on the night, while Anthony Rogic equaled Grandstrand's performance with five saves of his own for Stony Brook, but could not save the most important shot by Rosa.
