SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Nobody gave them a chance. But a chance was all they asked for.

The Shippensburg University men's soccer team played to a 1-1 tie in the PSAC Championship game with East Stroudsburg on a frigid Saturday evening in front of a capacity crowd at David See Field. The contest epitomized the quality and emotion requisite of playing in one of the toughest leagues in Division II.

If this were any other match, the two teams would have been more than content to have finished 110 minutes of soccer as equals. But Saturday's match was scheduled for the sole purpose of determining a champion, and the winner would have to be decided with a penalty-kick shootout.

By converting its first three kicks of the shootout and riding the superhuman efforts of sophomore goalkeeper and championship MVP Clay Sale, SU won its first PSAC championship since 1975 by achieving a 3-2 edge in the penalty-kick session. The final attempt was thwarted with a diving save by Sale – his second of the shootout – and the SU players screamed with delight at the realization that their season-long effort had resulted in the league's top prize.

Saturday's decision is only the second time in 41 years that the PSAC champion has been determined by penalty kicks. Ironically, Shippensburg was involved in the other shootout, losing to Lock Haven in 1978 by a 3-0 margin. It marks the third conference championship in school history, as the Raiders also share the 1971 championship with Lock Haven.

The Raiders and the Warriors must wait to see if they will be ranked as one of the top four teams in the regional rankings. SU entered the week as the No. 6 team in the Atlantic Region but remained unbeaten for their 12th consecutive match with Saturday night's achievement.

The official selections for the NCAA tournament will be announced in a live videocast Monday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. The webcast can be viewed here. Shippensburg has never competed in the NCAA tournament.

Shippensburg (14-5-1) had its school-record 11-game winning streak come to an end, but maintains a 12-game unbeaten streak. SU was out-shot 26-20 in the contest but recorded a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks – including three in each half. Sale finished with eight saves, one short of his season high set Wednesday against The Rock.

East Stroudsburg (13-6-1) had the best scoring chance of the first half when Drew Repsher was sent free on a breakaway from midfield. Sale came out to challenge and made a sensational leg save on Repsher's low line drive. The loose ball was sent careening back into the box a few seconds later, but the deflection attempt by an ESU attacker sailed high.

The Warriors grabbed the offensive momentum late in the first half with several scoring chances and maintained it after the intermission. Just 74 seconds into the second half, senior midfielder Mike Kane juggled the ball off his foot enough to rip a fabulous volley into the upper ninety that gave the visitors the lead.

After the goal, the Raider attack returned. In the 59th minute, SU got a free kick from about 30 yards out that sophomore Chris Schlegel sent trickling through the box and magically rolled through several legs toward sophomore defender Austin Hill, who snuck a shot into the lower left corner of the net to tie the score at 1-1.

Each team had quality scoring chances in the overtime periods but the penalty-kick shootout was all but inevitable with the way the match was transgressing.

SU was able to have the momentum for the majority of the shootout - senior Miles Harriger converted the first attempt while Kane beat Sale but saw his shot roll clean off the left goalpost. Sophomore Michael Celius and ESU's Khriswayne Wallace each made their shots in round two, giving SU a 2-1 advantage.

Junior Simon Neubauer gave SU a 3-1 advantage before Sale made a sensational diving stop on ESU's Matthew Geidner. The anxiety and tension mounted to a surreal level for the players and partisan crowd, knowing that any successful conversion in the next two attempts would result in a conference title.

However, senior David Rostad sent a shot high over the bar in round four and freshman Oli Templeton fired a shot wide in round five. With the score 3-2, ESU's two-time All-American Danny Drago came up with the chance to send the shootout into sudden death. His shot went to the corner as Sale dove right, sealing the championship in SU's favor.

Notes: Shippensburg is now 1-1-3 in PSAC championship games…the Raiders extended their new school record for goals in a season to 50 through 20 matches…the 1989 team scored 48 goals in 18 matches and the 2007 team scored 48 goals in 20 matches…SU's previous-best unbeaten streak was set in 1970 (10 games; nine wins and one tie)…Shippensburg is 9-43-2 in the all-time series against East Stroudsburg…SU is now 1-1-1 in the PSAC Tournament against East Stroudsburg, with no team scoring more than one goal in any of the meetings (1988, 1990, 2010)...

Penalty kick shootout:

1st round: Ship – Miles Harriger (made); ESU – Michael Kane (hit post)
2nd round: Ship – Michael Celius (made); ESU – Khriswayne Wallace (made)
3rd round: Ship – Simon Neubauer (made); ESU – Matthew Geidner (saved)
4th round: Ship – Dave Rostad (high); ESU – Steve Sollecito (made)
5th round: Ship – Oli Templeton (wide); ESU – Danny Drago (saved)