SMITHFIELD — Bryant left this dream men’s soccer season to the lottery that is a penalty kick shootout and suffered a bitter ending Sunday night.
Saint Louis took advantage of its opportunity to upset a second straight national seed in this NCAA Tournament and claim a berth in next weekend’s quarterfinals. The Billikens converted on all four of their attempts and Jeremi Abonnel extended the form in goal that earned him both Atlantic 10 individual honors and a conference tournament championship.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSaint Louis escaped rainy Beirne Stadium with a 2-2 (4-3) triumph on Nov. 30 and will face No. 14 Akron in the last eight. That comes after knocking out No. 6 Indiana and outlasting the 11th-seeded Bulldogs in this one, an upset that required an equalizer in the 56th minute and a cold-blooded performance in the shootout.
Bryant's Jaime Amaro, right, battles a pair of Saint Louis defenders in Sunday night's playoff matchup in Smithfield.“For us to come back and for them to make it 2-2 and be resilient, credit to them,” Bryant coach Ruben Resendes said. “Obviously wins against Kentucky, Indiana and now us – they have a really good group.”
Fermin Rodriguez opted to try a panenka in the fifth round for Bryant – a style of penalty kick named for Czechoslovakia international Antonin Panenka after his winner in a shootout against West Germany at the 1976 UEFA European Championships. Abonnel read it perfectly and drifted a couple steps to his right, catching the soft left-footed chip in front of his face. Saint Louis didn’t need its own fifth shooter to extend what is now a 13-match unbeaten streak in front of 1,400 soaked fans.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“He’s never missed one of those in his life if you look at his highlight video – there were a few of those in there,” Resendes said. “It is what it is. We still had to – if he scores that – make a save on the next one.”
Abonnel gave the Billikens the upper hand with his stop in the third round, diving to his right and denying Caoimhin McConnell in what was a 2-2 tie. JC Cortez and Tanner Anderson scored for Saint Louis from there to give the visitors a chance to win the match. Bulldogs goalkeeper Enzo Carvalho guessed right on Jack DiMaria’s shot in the second round, but his right-footed strike had enough venom behind it to carom off Carvalho’s hands and into the top right corner.
“Jeremi’s performances speak for themselves,” Saint Louis coach Kevin Kalish said. “He’s the best goalkeeper in the country. If I’ve said it 10 times I’ve said it 100 times.”
Bryant could have been home and dry if not for a mistake early in the second half. Saint Louis played a searching ball down the right wing and Carvalho came out to claim it before seemingly pulling his hands away at the last minute. Theo Franca continued his run and Carvalho was whistled for a foul after both players went down, conceding a penalty kick and picking up a yellow card.
Bryant men's soccer head coach Ruben Resendes, shown in an earlier match this season, said about his team, “There are special things happening here."“It looks to me like the other guy went down kind of easily, and so did Enzo,” Resendes said. “And then the referee called a PK in (Franca’s) favor.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Maybe just because Enzo made the mistake the referee was like, ‘Oh, I can make a call on this.’ Because it was a mistake, obviously, but I felt like he recovered.”
Quinten Blair stepped to the spot and made the most of his opportunity. His right-footed shot arrowed into the top right corner and it was 2-2. The score stayed that way through the remainder of regulation and two 10-minute periods of extra time, a deadlock preserved by Carvalho’s pair of fine saves with a sudden victory format in play.
“Our goal was to keep a clean sheet,” Bryant defender Abdel Talabi said. “We knew they were a strong team as well. It’s unfortunate the way it ended.”
The Bulldogs had two penalty appeals of their own denied over the final 25 minutes of the second half, with Mamadi Jiana going down twice in the Saint Louis penalty area. Match referee Stephen Foster waved off the second in the 87th minute after granting it initially and taking a look at the replay monitor. He whistled for a goal kick on the first in the 68th minute, going to the same monitor for a second view and backing his initial call.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I’m not sure (the second penalty claim is) a foul anywhere on the field,” Resendes said. “I think (Jiana) went down a little easy. But the first one, for me, I think 110% – it’s a foul. It’s a foul anywhere on the pitch.”
Bryant (17-3-2) carried a 2-1 lead into the second half thanks to a counterattack goal in the 44th minute. Jorge Veintimilla played a pass through a high Billikens defensive line into space and Muslim Umar was onto it quickly. He rounded Abonnel with a touch to the right and finished from a tight angle to turn what had been an early 1-0 deficit.
“I think we were up against it a little bit at the end of the first half,” Resendes said. “They started to find some control. We inserted (Umar) to be a little bit more dangerous on the counterattack and it worked.”
The Billikens (13-2-7) took their early lead through a set piece in the 18th minute. DiMaria drove in a corner kick off the left and Blair was unmarked in the center of the penalty area. His perfect glancing header nestled inside the far post and it was 1-0.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Bulldogs found an answer through a corner kick just four minutes later. Paco Fernandez served one in off the left and Fernando Delgado was able to bring it down off his torso. The ball bounced toward Rodriguez and he just about scraped it inside the left post to make it 1-1.
“Bryant is a really good side,” Blair said. “There are slips in the game. At this point in the season you’re coming down to the best teams in the nation.”
Bryant was attempting to follow its first postseason win over Seton Hall with another and came up just shy. Talabi is one of several graduate students or seniors who will move on at the close of the 2025-26 academic year. Resendes has quickly elevated the Bulldogs into a national factor after his three seasons in charge and will look to continue that progress next fall.
“There are special things happening here,” Resendes said. “But I think what’s really important is that nobody is satisfied. Nobody is satisfied with what’s going on here.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“It’s a really bittersweet feeling. Moments like this in my opinion, they heighten your senses a little bit. They make you work a little bit harder. I think that’s what failure does and adversity does.”
SAINT LOUIS (2): Quinten Blair 2; assist – Jack DiMaria.
BRYANT (2): Fermin Rodriguez, Muslim Umar; assist – Fernando Delgado, Jorge Veintimilla.
Halftime – B, 2-1. End of regulation – 2-2. End of first overtime – 2-2. End of second overtime – 2-2. Penalty kicks – SL 4 (Blair, DiMaria, JC Cortez, Tanner Anderson), B 3 (Jaime Amaro, Fernando Delgado, Tiago Dias). Saves – Jeremi Abonnel, SL, 5; Enzo Carvalho, B, 4.
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Bryant men's soccer loses to Saint Louis on penalty kicks in playoffs
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