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West Long Branch, NJ -- Central Connecticut State's Andrew Cooper (London, England/Twyford Church of England) had not scored a goal in 47 games and a No. 4 seed had not won the Northeast Conference men's soccer tournament in 10 years, but both of those rarities occurred Sunday afternoon on Monmouth's Great Lawn in West Long Branch, NJ. Cooper's 38th minute tally was the only goal scored during the 2007 NEC Tournament final, lifting fourth-seeded CCSU to a 1-0 win over No. 2 Saint Francis (PA).
In winning their first ever NEC crown, the Blue Devils became first No. 4 seed to celebrate as champions since Long Island upended Fairleigh Dickinson, 1-0, in the 1997 final. CCSU made it through to Sunday's title game by knocking off regular season champion Monmouth, 1-0, in the first of two semifinals on Friday.
"We were 2-8-2 to start the season and really had our backs against the wall," CCSU head coach Shaun Green said. "We had to pretty much play perfect soccer during the second half of the season just to make it into the tournament. Then we played the top two seeds in this tournament and were able to come away with a pair of 1-0 wins, a tremendous feeling for our players. We played hard and it is an overwhelming feeling to win the championship. It is a great accomplishment to bring this title back to CCSU."
Cooper, a center back, had been doing much of his work in CCSU's own end early on until a set piece gave him the opportunity to come up into the offensive end.
Junior mid-fielder Yan Klukowski's (Wiltshire, England/Sheldon) free kick was punched away by Red Flash junior keeper Brad Williams (San Lorenzo, CA/Arroyo), but CCSU rookie midfielder Robert Cavener (Tynemouth, England/Norham) lobbed the rebound back into the box. The ball deflected off freshman forward Chris Brown's (Isle of Man, Great Britain/St. Ninians) head right to Cooper who chipped it past a sprawling keeper.
Cooper, who has seen significant playing time in each of the past three seasons, had not scored since his two-goal effort in a 6-1 win over Manhattan on September 20, 2005. The senior back now has four career tallies.
Trying to avenge last year's championship game defeat and grab its first ever league title, Saint Francis (PA) nearly had the equalizer on numerous occasions in the second half.
In the 68th minute, senior Jarron Brooks (Mitchellville, MD/Archbishop Carroll) sent well-struck ball on goal from 20 yards out on the right side that CCSU sophomore goalie Paul Armstrong (Liverpool, England/St. Margaret's) calmly corraled.
The Red Flash had an even better chance five minutes later on a corner kick when senior defender Bryan Maguire's (Glasgow, Scotland/Memorial) header hit off the far right post.
The Blue Devils will find out their NCAA opponent on Monday at 5:30 pm when the bracket is announced live on ESPNews.
2007 Northeast Conference Men's Soccer All-Tournament Team
David Tyrie CCSU Jr. Norwich-Norfolk, England/Norwich
Andrew Cooper CCSU Sr. London, England/Twyford Church of England
Robert Cavener CCSU Fr. Tynemouth, England/Norham
Paul Armstrong CCSU So. Liverpool, England/St. Margaret's
Daniel Moir SFPA So. Christchurch, New Zealand/Shirley Boys
Jarron Brooks SFPA Sr. Mitchellville, MD/Archbishop Carroll
Jon Guse SFPA Jr. Chandler, AZ/Hamilton
Ryan Kinne MU Fr. Naugatuck, CT/Naugatuck
Daniel Bostock MU So. Nottinghamshire, England/Virginia Intermont
Ricarti Mendes SHU Sr. Campinas, Brazil/Maria Matosinho
Nemanja Filimonovic SHU Jr. Belgrade, Serbia/II Economska
Tournament MVP: David Tyrie, CCSU
