Men's Soccer Takes On Fairleigh Dickinson In NEC Tournament Semifinal

No. 3 Quinnipiac University Bobcats (10-4-4, 5-2-2 NEC) vs.
No. 2 Fairleigh Dickinson University (11-5-2, 6-2-1 NEC)

Friday, November 14, 2008 – 1:30 p.m.

West Long Branch, N.J. – Great Lawn

Friday's Game
Quinnipiac will square off with the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday afternoon in the second semifinal of the 2008 Northeast Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. The Bobcats earned a berth into the tournament for the first time since 2004 with a 3-0 win over Mount St. Mary's in their final game of the regular season. Quinnipiac finished the season third in the NEC with 17 points and a 5-2-2 record. The Knights swept their final weekend of the season with two 2-1 victories against St. Francis (N.Y.) and Long Island to earn the No. 2 seed. Fairleigh Dickinson is the last team to defeat Quinnipiac this season as the Bobcats have gone six games without a loss (4-0-2).

Four Is The Magic Number

Senior forward Graciano Brito (Sao Nicolau, Cape Verde) received his fourth Brine/NEC Player of the Week award this past week for his two-goal performance against the Mountaineers. This was the second consecutive week that Brito had been honored by the conference with the award. During his career, Brito has now been named the conference's player of the week seven times.

Mr. November

Freddy Hall (St. George, Bermuda) has gone 355:32 without allowing a goal. The last time the junior goalkeeper allowed a ball by was in the fifth minute of a 1-1 tie with Robert Morris on Oct. 31. Since then, He has recorded three consecutive shutouts, stopping 20 shots in those games.

Top Of The Charts

Brito finished the season ranked as the NEC's top producer in goals (18), goals per game (1.0), points (39) and points per game (2.17). He is tied for first nationally in goals per game and is second in the nation in points per game.

Record Setter

The two goals against Mount St. Mary's gave Brito 18 goals and 39 points this season. Both figures are new program Division I single-season records. Already the owner of the program's Division I career records, Brito moved ahead of Everson Maciel's 2001 figures of 17 goals and 39 points in his final regular-season game.

The Glove

Durval Pereira's (Cheshire, Conn.) sixth goal of the season came in the 34th minute against Mount St. Mary's. He stole the ball from a defender along the right sideline and placed a high shot over the head and out of the reach of Mountaineer goalkeeper Chris Davis into the far right corner. Pereira is currently second on the team in points and goals during his freshman season.

On The Air

Friday's game can be heard on the WQAQ webstream. Mike Silverman and Mike Radomski will deliver play-by-play and color, respectively, from the sidelines in West Long Branch. The game can also be seen on the Pack Network's Live Video Webstream.

Helping Feet

Shane Recklet (Shelton, Conn.) and Johan Karlhagen (Gothenburg, Sweden) assisted on Brito's two goals against the Mountaineers. Karlhagen found Brito in the 20th minute for his first goal. Recklet's pass in the 82nd minute led to Brito's record-setting 18th goal of the season. The assist was the first of the season for Recklet, while Karlhagen collected his third of the year.