NEWARK, N.J. –  It was a matchup for the ages in the NCAA Tournament's Round of 16 as seventh-seeded Post University Men's Soccer and sixth-seeded Felician University met for a rematch of the CACC Tournament Championship which saw the Golden Falcons come out on top 1-0. But on Sunday afternoon on the campus of Rutgers-Newark, an instant classic unfolded between the two sides which saw the Eagles overcome a 2-0 deficit with three unanswered goals before Felician forced extra time on senior forward Massimo Girardi's second goal of the evening to help the Golden Falcons get the eventual 5-4 win in six rounds of penalty kicks. 

For Post, their season comes to a close in the Round of 16 for the third straight season while Felician will continue their first NCAA Tournament run in program history to the Elite Eight on Saturday to take on top-seeded University of Charleston with a bid to the Final Four on the line. 

THE BASICS

#7 Post University 3 (4), #6 Felician University 3 (5) (Penalty Kicks)

#7 Post University (13-5-5)

#6 Felician University (17-3-3)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 
Girardi opened up the scoring early for the Golden Falcons following a corner kick by senior defenseman Manuel Otero which caromed around the box for a bit for junior defenseman Kohta Yamanashi to get a foot on. Yamanashi would get the ball over to Girardi near graduate goalkeeper Ricardo Moreno and beat him to give Felician a 1-0 advantage less than eight minutes into the affair. Tacking on the second goal of the day for the home team was senior midfielder Hugo Rodriguez in the 33rd minute with the help of Otero again, putting the Golden Falcons seemingly in the driver's seat with a two-goal lead.

However, as they did against Wilmington University in the CACC Semifinals, the Eagle offense would patiently wait for their opportunities to come and make the most of them. It started in the 42nd minute on a free kick taken by senior midfielder Diego Silva who hooked the ball towards the left side of the goal mouth where freshman forward Marc Ballart connected for the score past senior goalkeeper Emanuele Moretti to cut the deficit in half, 2-1, heading into halftime.

Only 4:55 into the second half, Post would get the equalizer as a foul inside the box led to a penalty kick for senior forward Francisco Sousa which he would convert on to tie things back up at two all. No more than six minutes after that, junior midfielder Diego Righi delivered a beautiful bicycle kick goal past Moretti after being set up by graduate defender Santiago Palacios as the Eagles flipped the match back in their favor, 3-2, with under 30 minutes left in regulation.

Returning the favor in the 78th minute with the game-tying goal was Girardi for his second of the day as Yamanashi set him up with an opportunity at a bicycle kick goal which he got by Moreno in what would ultimately lead to the match going to extra time. Chances in the bonus 20 minutes of sudden-death extra time would be far and few with the Golden Falcons manufacturing the best chance in the first 10-minute session in which senior forward Lorenzo Ferrari was taken down with no whistle blown before getting up and going by the Eagle defense to fire on Moreno who deflected the ball just enough for it to go outside of the left post. 

In the penalty kick session, Post would miss one of their first five attempts as graduate midfielder Luis Rodrigues had Moretti beat but fired the ball off the post while Ferrari had a chance to win it in round five for Felician before his shot was elevated over the crossbar. In round six though, Righi would be stopped by Moretti on the left side while Otero, who had two assists in the match, beat Moreno to his left to send the Golden Falcons to the Elite Eight with a 5-4 penalty kick win over the Eagles. 

BY THE NUMBERS 

• In the loss, Ricardo Moreno had a career-high nine saves on 12 attempts over the course of 110 minutes in net for Post University -- Moreno's previous high was seven saves against Southern New Hampshire last week and Felician University at home in the regular season
•  In the first 26 head-to-head matchups entering the day, no match saw both teams score three goals each with the closest instance being a 3-2 loss for Post University on the road in overtime back during the 2016 season 
• With Felician University advancing to the Elite Eight, this marks the first time in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference history in which a team from the CACC has advanced this far in the NCAA Tournament 
• Post University falls to 0-3-1 all-time in Round of 16 matches having lost to Franklin Pierce University twice and the University of Charleston once entering the day