WASHINGTON – The Colgate men's soccer team earned a 5-4 penalty shootout win to claim the 2016 Patriot League Championship and the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament Sunday afternoon at American's Reeves Field.
 
The Raiders and top-seeded Eagles played to a 1-1 double-overtime draw before the game was sent into a penalty kick shootout. American made its first four penalty kicks and had the chance to claim the title, but Colgate senior keeper Ricky Brown stepped up with back-to-back saves to clinch the championship for the Raiders.
 
Colgate claims its sixth Patriot League title and first since 2011. The Raiders advance to the NCAA tournament for the sixth time in program history. First round action is set for Thursday. Colgate will learn its NCAA tournament opponent during Monday's 1 p.m. selection show.
 
Senior Ethan Kutler scored Colgate's goal on a penalty kick in the 56th minute. It marked Kutler's fifth goal of the postseason, setting a Patriot League Tournament record for goals scored by a player. The Lansing, N.Y., native was named MVP of the Patriot League Tournament.
 
Kutler was joined on the Patriot League All-Tournament Team by Brown, senior Zach Tamen and junior Jared Stroud.
 
Colgate nearly took a 1-0 lead less than a minute into the contest when sophomore Aram Ouligian headed a corner kick from Stroud off the post. Brown made his first save of the game in the 19th minute on a shot from Panos Nakhid before making another stop in the 27th minute. The Raider defense withstood three American shots in the next few minutes before picking up momentum in the final 10 minutes of the half, but the teams took a scoreless draw into halftime.
 
Stroud had the first good opportunity of the second half 10 minutes into the stanza on a give-and-go pass from sophomore Abdel Sanogo, but American keeper Lucas Belanger deflected the ball out of harm's way. Colgate kept the momentum as a Stroud service was sent into the box just a few seconds later and sophomore Aram Ouligian drew a foul in the 18-yard box. The referee whistled the infraction, setting Kutler up with his third penalty kick attempt of the postseason.
 
Kutler drilled the ball past Belanger to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead in the 56th minute.
 
American peppered Colgate with five shots and a pair of corner kicks in the next 15 minutes, including an attempt from Dale Ludwig that flew just wide and into the side netting. Ludwig then drew a foul in the box with 15:44 left in the game to send the Eagles to the penalty kick line. Joe Iraola stepped up to take the kick, but Brown made a diving stop to keep the Raiders ahead 1-0.
 
The Eagles were set up with a corner kick following the saved PK. Chris Fanet headed in Iraola's service to tie the game at 1-1 in the 75th minute.
 
American's Belanger came up with two big saves on a pair of Kutler shots in the final 10 minutes, while Brown made two huge stops himself to send the championship contest to overtime.
 
Brown made his seventh save of the game just over three minutes into the first extra frame. The Raiders brought the pressure in the final three minutes of the first overtime, including a last-second shot from junior Karl Brown that Belanger just got his fingertips on to send the game to a second overtime period.
 
A Stoud shot on goal opened the frame, but his attempt was fired right into the hands of Belanger. Oulgian had a pair of headers off a Stroud corner kick with three minutes left on the clock, but neither could find the back of the net as the game was sent into a penalty shootout.
 
The Eagles threw a curveball and placed their six-foot, six-inch freshman keeper Will McCreight in goal for the penalty shootout, marking the rookie's first action of the season. Both teams made their first two chances, with Kutler and senior Zach Pagani converting for the Raiders. Colgate missed its third attempt before Ouligian and Brown stepped up to convert their chances. The shootout was tied at 4-4 with American's Max Holdsworth at the line with the ability to end the game. But Brown came up with the huge save. Sophomore Oliver Harris converted Colgate's sixth penalty kick before Brown saved American's final attempt to clinch Colgate's Patriot League Championship.
 
 
BOTTOM LINE

• Colgate 1, American 1 (2OT) – Raiders advance 5-4 on penalty kicks

 
WON-LOST RECORDS

• Colgate moves to 13-6-3 overall on the season.
• The Eagles' season ends at 11-5-5.

 
KEY RAIDER INFO

• The Raiders claim their sixth Patriot League title and first since 2011.
• Kutler's goal was his fifth of the postseason and 10th overall. It marks the 33rd goal of his career, which stands third all-time in the Colgate record books. His 81 career points are second all-time and four points shy of the school record. 
• Colgate moves to a perfect 6-for-6 in Patriot League Championship games.
• Brown made a season high-tying seven saves in goal. He stopped two of six penalty kicks in addition to making a PK of his own.

 
 
FACTS & FIGURES

• The Patriot League Championship game was decided on penalty kicks for the first time since 2006.
• American finished the game with a 22-12 shot advantage and 8-6 shot-on-goal edge.
• Colgate held a 5-3 corner kick lead.
• Belanger made five saves. McCreight stopped one of the six penalty kicks he faced.

 
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Erik Ronning

• "First and foremost, I couldn't be more proud of the effort, belief and trust in each other that the players displayed today. Seeing those guys fight for each other was absolutely amazing."
• "We were absorbing some pressure from them early in the game and our guys were fighting and battling and never stepped working or believing. Anytime you win a championship, it's really, really special because it doesn't come around that often. How these guys did it and what they've overcame makes it all the more special."
• "The seniors in this group have never stopped believing or working for four years. This was a process. It wasn't something that happened overnight. This was a senior class that really embraced everything that we were preaching, and it's all credit to the players who were out there on the field."
• "I'm so incredibly proud. This is a tremendous group and I love this team. We're looking forward to seeing who we draw in the NCAA tournament and I know we're not done yet."

 
Senior forward Ethan Kutler

• "This was redemption week for us. We lost to Army, Loyola and American in the regular season and came back and won all three games in the tournament. We really battled today and I couldn't be more proud to be a part of this team."
• On keeper Ricky Brown: "Ricky is one of the best PK savers I've ever seen. He guesses right almost every time and I have no idea how he does it. He came up huge for us and I've never seen anything like it today."

 
Senior defender Zach Tamen

• "Our class has been on an incredible journey from our freshman to senior year. We couldn't have done this without the entire team today. We have an indescribably special bond."

 
UP NEXT

• The Raiders are making their sixth NCAA tournament appearance and first since 2011.
• Colgate finds out its first round opponent Monday at 1 p.m. when the selection show airs live on NCAA.com.
• The first round of the NCAA Tournament takes place Thursday. The  winning teams from the 16 first-round games advance to Sunday's second-round action.