NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College men's soccer team is heading to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) semifinals after a header from Morgan Stone (Wallingford, Conn.) in the 100th minute, lifted the Falcons to a 2-1 overtime win over Rivier in the quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon in a thrilling victory at Celentano Field.

The goal came with 49.1 seconds left in the first overtime as a corner kick from Johan Stagnaro (East Hartford, Conn.) sailed to the far post and Stone rose up above everyone and headed it into the back of the net to send Albertus to its first GNAC semifinals appearance since the 2015 season, which was the last time the Falcons made the conference championship game.

Lorenzo Lauria (New Haven, Conn.) also had a goal for the Falcons in the first half.

The Falcons will now take on Johnson and Wales on Wednesday, November 6 at Celentano Field in the GNAC semifinals.

David Lucero (East Haven, Conn.) had 

THE BASICS

FINAL: Albertus Magnus 2 | Rivier 1 (OT)

RECORDS: Albertus (11-4-4) | Rivier (7-6-7)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Falcons - seeded second - outshot the No. 7 Raiders, 6-0 in the first half and were able to get on the board in the 28th minute as  Gabriel Paglia (Amity, Conn.) headed the ball into the box to Lauria. Lauria's first touch helped get him to the center of the box and he took a left-footed shot past the dive of Rivier goalkeeper, Logan Clough to make it a 1-0 game. It was the fifth goal in the last three games for Lauria, who now has 10 goals on the season.
• Rivier tied the game in the second half in the 50th minute when Luiggi Ferreira volleyed in a shot off a pass from Jose Ochoa just in front of the net to the the match at 1-1.
• In overtime, the Falcons knocked on the door often as Stagnaro, Aiden Coelho (Naugatuck, Conn.) and Paglia all knocked on the door of scoring until the heroics from Stone gave them the victory.

BETWEEN THE PIPES

Albertus

David Lucero (W, 9-3-4) 3 Shots on Goal | 2 Saves | 1 Goal Allowed

Rivier

Logan Clough (L, 6-6-7) 10 Shots on Goal | 8 Saves | 2 Goals Allowed

BY THE NUMBERS

SHOTS: Albertus 18 | Rivier 6

SAVES: Rivier 8 | Albertus 3

CORNER KICKS: Albertus 8 | Rivier 7

FOULS: Rivier 13 | Albertus 8

NOTEWORTHY

• Stagnaro leads the team with six assists on the season, four of which came on corner kicks.
• Albertus is now 24-5-4 all-time against Rivier and are 7-0-1 over the last eight games against the Raiders.
• The 11 wins for the Falcons this season are the most since they had back-to-back seasons with 11 wins in 2014 and 2015.
• The game-winning goal for Stone was the second for him this season. He also scored the game-winner in the 81st minute in a 1-0 victory over Colby-Sawyer on September 21.