Oakdale, NY-The defending 2006 National Champion Golden Lions, regain their crown for the second consecutive year in the ECC as they defeated the Purple Knights of Bridgeport, 2-1, in the Finals of the ECC Tournament to advance to their seventh straight NCAA Tournament. The win improves Dowling to 15-2-3 while the loss drops the Purple Knights to 10-4-5.

Through the hurricane gusts and spurts of torrential rain the Golden Lions were able to strike in the fourth minute of play this afternoon for the early go ahead goal. Co- ECC Defender of the Year, Thomas Vaaland (Stavanger, Norway) made things happen first with a corner kick into the box and then seconds later he fired a shot at goalkeeper, Ryan Brook-Newton, who punched the ball into the feet of defender, Chris Green (Bristol, England) for a one-timer into the back of the net. The Golden Lions continued to fire off shots, and in the 20th minute of play, ECC Offensive Player of the Year, Ahmadoul Gaye (Dakar, Senegal) dished off an assist to Samba Traore (Ivory, Coast) for a 25 yard blast past the goalkeeper to give the Golden Lions a two-goal advantage. The Golden Lions out-shot the Purple Knights 13-7 in the first half to give Dowling a 2-0 lead going into halftime.

The Golden Lions came out fired in the second half as they dominated the offensive end of the field with missed shots and corner kick opportunities. The Purple Knights relentless like the rain fought back to within one of the Golden Lions lead with 74 minutes on the clock. Bridgeport’s, Blaise Njie, a first team All-Conference selection, capitalized on a flick in the box to put the Purple Knights on the board. With five minutes remaining in the game, Nemanja Veljovic (Belgrade, Serbia) made a crucial save in net and the Purple Knights were unable to find the back of the net with three consecutive corner kick attempts to fall to the Golden Lions 2-1. The Purple Knights out-shot the Golden Lions 8-6 in the second half, but Dowling was able to hold strong for the win.

MVP of the Tournament, Nemanja Veljovic, recorded a season high 10 stops on the day and Bridgeport’s Ryan Brooks-Newton made 6 saves on the day.

The Golden Lions will enter NCAA Tournament play this upcoming week.