PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The Barry Buccaneers used a stifling defense to shutout the high-powered Fort Hays State Tigers 0-0 in the semifinals of the national tournament at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa.,as part of the NCAA Division II Fall Sports Festival. Barry advanced to the national championship game 5-4 on eight rounds of penalty kicks, thanks to three terrific saves by keeper Marco Sordi.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: #20 Barry 0, #11 Fort Hays State 0 (Barry advances 5-4 on penalty kicks)
Records: Fort Hays State (17-2-2), Barry (15-4-3)
All-Time Series: Series tied 0-0-1

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:

"I'm extremely proud to be sitting here next to the two guys (keeper Sordi and defender Stephen Kosmala). They are incredibly great leaders who have helped revive a program, that has history, but like anything you sometimes have to remind yourself what it takes to be special." -- Barry head coach Steve McCrath

"There is no strategy to be honest. You just try to not get scored on."  -- Sordi on the strategy of stopping penalty kicks

"I try to just get them to forget the occasion, to get the pressure off your chest as much as possible. I just tried to stay in everyone's ear. 'No pressure, we've done this in training multiple times.'" -- Stephen Kosmala

SUMMARY:

• 8' - Sordi made an outstanding kick save on the Tigers' Alonso Rodriguez.
• 14' - Sordi came up big again as Abdoulaye Cisse came in one-on-one on the Bucs' keeper.
• 55' - Toby Fura got loose on the end line and his shot hit the post. Tiger keeper Fernando Pina was then able to save the rebound shot by Fura.
• 65' - Pina, who injured himself on the saves against Fura had to come out of the game and was replaced by reserve Cullen Fisch.
• 97' - Sordi saved the only shot of the first overtime period.
• 105' - Luca de Biase ripped an 20-yard shot to the top right corner, but Fisch was able to punch the ball over the bar.
• 108' - The Tigers' Tobias Patino took a low driving kick from just outside the box that wove its way through traffic toward the bottom left corner, but Sordi was there again to make the clutch save.
• In penalty kicks, Barry got conversions from Stephen Kosmala, Lorenzo Cerrai, James Kirkham, Jack Parker and Ivan Barriga. Sordi saved shots FHSU's Sergio Villalba,Moises Peralta and Cisse.  Luis Torres missed the final shot to send the Bucs into the championship.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Barry shut out Fort Hays State for the just the second time this season. The Tigers had entered the contest as the top scoring team in NCAA Division II at over 3.5 goals per game.
• Sordi made seven saves for the Bucs, plus three more in the shootout. It was his ninth shutout of the season.
• Pina made four saves for FHSU, while Fisch had three over the last 55:05 in relief.
• The Bucs are back in the national championship game for just the second time in school history and the first time since 2000. The Bucs fell 2-1 to Cal State-Dominguez Hills in four overtimes.
• Including the shootouts against FSHU and Lynn, Sordi has faced 18 penalty kicks and has allowed only eight conversions.

ON THE HORIZON:

The Bucs will play the West Chester Rams in the national championship game at noon on Saturday, Dec. 1. West Chester defeated Cal Poly Pomona 2-1 in overtime to advance.