BROCKTON, Mass. ---- With less than six minutes left in regulation Monroe College's Yoojun Kang lofted a deep shot that found its way to the back of the net to give the Mustangs a 3-2 NJCAA Northeast District Championship victory against the Massasoit men's soccer team on Sunday afternoon.
Massasoit concludes its season at 8-7 overall, while Monroe (10-1-2) advances to the NJCAA National Tournament, hosted by Daytona State College.
A game full of emotions from start to finish saw plenty of action early and often at Warrior Field.
In the 17th minute, the Warriors were whistled for a foul in the box giving the visiting Mustangs a penalty kick. But, Warrior goalie David Isaac (Brockton) was up for the challenge making an outstretched save to keep the match scoreless.
Just four minutes later, that scoreless action, changed courses. Monroe's Cameron Joice rocketed a shot from the corner that somehow found its way into the net to give the Mustangs a 1-0 advantage.
The scoring was far from done, as Junior Pereira (Brockton) stole a pass in Monroe's defensive half and finished for his 10th goal of the season to even the game in the 27th minute.
The contest went to the locker room tied at 1-1.
In the early goings of the second half, Isaac made another massive save for Massasoit, as he made a stop from point-blank range on Monroe.
Playing with even more pep in their step, Massasoit would take its first lead of the game in the 65th minute when Brockton's Maldini Da Fonseca launched a shot from 40 yards out that snuck under the crossbar to give an elated Warrior squad a 2-1 lead.
Unfortunately, that momentum was short lived for the home Green and White as a header by Roque Viegas in the 67th minute brought the game back even, 2-2.
The game appeared destine for overtime, but Monroe's goal in the 85th minute proved to be the difference on Sunday.
"The boys played their best two games of the season this weekend," head coach Rui Estrela. "I am extremely proud of the effort and energy they put forth. We just came up a little short today to a very good Monroe team."
Monroe finished with 26 shots for the game, compared to eight by Massasoit.
David Isaac made seven saves in goal in the loss for the Warriors.