Feildians going straight to Challenge Cup final

Double Blues beats Holy Cross on game decided by penalty kicks; Crusaders get a second chance in a semifinal against Laurentians today

You know about dramatic endings, but here’s a dramatic opening.

The Feildians Stavanger Dental Double Blues are headed to the 2019 Johnson Insurance Challenge Cup final after defeating the two-time defending champion Holy Cross Kirby Group Crusaders 3-2 in the first game of the provincial men’s soccer championship tournament Friday at Centennial Field in St. Lawrence.

The game was decided on penalty kicks, where the Double Blues prevailed 3-1.

Feildians has won just one Challenge Cup championship and that was 50 years ago.

Friday’s matchup of St. John’s teams was the 1-2 Page playoff contest, which means Holy Cross stays alive to play in the tournament semifinal 3 p.m. today. The Crusaders’ opponent in that game will be the homestanding St. Lawrence Laurentians, who edged the C.B.S. That Pro Look Strikers 2-1 in Friday’s 3-4 Page Playoff.

Holy Cross had finished in first place in the regular season and went 3-1-1 in its season series with Feildians, but it was the Double Blues who dominated in the early going in wet and windy conditions Friday; they owned a 2-0 lead 12 minutes into the contest on goals by Emmanuel Dolo and Tyler Forsey just a couple of minutes apart.

Holy Cross got on the scoreboard when Jake Warren scored at 38 minutes, but Feildians maintained a one-goal lead until Kyle Williams knotted the score in second-half injury time.

That led to a 30-minute overtime, but although Holy Cross held the edge in the extra sessions, nothing was decided, meaning penalty kicks were required.

There, Feildians hit on all three of their chances, with Aaron Buckingham, Carter Mackey and Dolo delivering on their attempts. Meanwhile, Holy Cross managed only one goal — from Tyler Kirby — in four opportunities, with Matthew Breen and Warren missing their shots, and Double Blues’ goalkeeper Braeden Sheppard making a stop on Alex Pretty.

It was also the lower seed winning in Friday’s other game.

The Laurentians had what can be described as a rough regular season, finishing fourth with a 6-11-3 record, including a 1-3-1 line in their head-to-head matchups with the third-place Strikers.

But on Friday, after a scoreless first half, St. Lawrence got goals from Adam Kelly and Stefan Slaney at 63 and 69 minutes. Rohan Reid tallied for C.B.S. in injury time to break John Douglas’s shutout bid, but it truly was a case of too-little, too-late; the final whistle came just seconds after the Strikers’ goal.