WATERBURY, Conn. – Senior midfielder Lucas Fernandes sent top-seeded Post University Men's Soccer to its seventh consecutive Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship Match, scoring his first goal of the season in the first half against fifth-seeded Holy Family University in a 3-0 win for the Eagles on Wednesday afternoon at LaMoy Field.

Post will take on the two-seeded University of Bridgeport at LaMoy Field on Saturday at 3:00 PM, in hopes of winning their seventh conference championship overall, second in three years against the Purple Knights, and sixth since 2018.

THE BASICS

RV Post University 3, Holy Family University 0

RV Post University (9-1-7)

Holy Family University (7-9-3)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Flipping the script from Sunday's match in which Georgian Court University controlled the offensive side of the ball, Post came out of the gate with a 7-2 edge in shots in the first half, firing three of them on goal. Fernandes' goal would come in the 19th minute on a rush down the pitch by the Eagle offense that saw junior forward Aidan Tross' shot go off a Tiger defender.

The carom found the foot of graduate midfielder Luis Rodrigues, who looked to shoot as well, but ended up finding Fernandes on the left side of the box for the score on junior goalkeeper Bruno Mestres. Holy Family would contest that Fernandes was offside. But the call would stand, giving Post the lead 1-0, which would remain into halftime. 

After over 20 minutes had gone by in the second half, things would start to heat up on both sides as freshman midfielder Rafael Gouvea fired a shot on junior goalkeeper Leopold Dufaut at close range that freshman defender Agnaldo Germano would block out of the way, preventing the Tigers from netting the equalizer. In the 79th minute, a foul in the box by Holy Family would lead to a skirmish among players, resulting in Dufaut being assessed a red card, removing him from the match after making three saves, and forcing Post to play with 10 players. Dufaut will have to serve a one-game suspension, which will come in Saturday's championship match.

In his place, senior goalkeeper Chris Jones, who played six minutes entering the day, closed out the match with two saves, while the Eagle offense tacked on two more goals via another penalty kick from graduate goalkeeper Pablo Tenorio and senior midfielder Lukas Glade's goal from Tross and Tenorio in the 89th minute, punching Post's spot in the CACC Championship with a 3-0 win. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Post University heads to its 14th CACC Championship Match in program history – The Eagles hold a 6-7 record all-time in the Finals since their first appearance back in 2002
• With the victory, Post University is now 7-0-1 in its last eight matchups against Holy Family University since November 15th, 2019, when they defeated the Tigers in the CACC Semifinals, 2-1
• Pablo Tenorio is now 3-for-3 on the season in penalty kicks, making two of them during the CACC Tournament with one in each affair -- Tenorio's penalty kick against Georgian Court University on Sunday stood as the game-winning goal
• After only scoring one goal or less in nine of its first ten matches, Post University's offense has generated two-plus goals in four of its last seven matches 

WHO'S NEXT
Post University looks to notch its seventh conference championship in program history on Saturday afternoon at LaMoy Field when it faces the two-seeded University of Bridgeport at 3:00 PM. The Eagles tied the Purple Knights on the road this season, 2-2,  and defeated them in the 2023 CACC Championship Match by a 3-1 final score in Bridgeport.