St. Louis - Third-seeded Rhode Island captured Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Soccer Championship this afternoon by topping No. 1 seed Saint Louis 5-3 in penalty kicks at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. A-10 scoring leader Jeffrey Gonsalves nailed the clinching goal in the shootout after the teams had played to a 2-2 draw through two overtimes.

"Give Rhode Island's goalkeeper and defenders all the credit in the world for gutting out the last minutes of regulation and overtime when it looked as if the physical toll of playing three games in four days was beginning to become a factor," Billikens head coach Dan Donigan said. "They're a disciplined, mature, veteran team that plays well off the ball and creates opportunities for their scorers."

URI senior keeper Dean Ruddy stoned Bills freshman defender Calum Angus on Saint Louis' first shot in the shootout, and the Rams converted every kick thereafter to clinch the title.

The Billikens were in command early, as SLU seemed to take advantage of being the fresher team. Senior midfielder Andrew Moses had an open net from eight yards in the 17th minute, but drilled shot off the left post. Bills scoring leader John DiRaimondo got SLU on the board in the 26th minute. Off a 28-yard free kick, he bent a shot to the right side netting.

"After the first half television timeout, we seemed to lose both the flow in our attack and our defensive fundamentals," Donigan said. "Rhode Island got a chance and capitalized on it."

With SLU having out-shot the Rams 7-1, Rhode Island knotted the game in the 26th minute. From a bad angle near the right end line, URI sophomore forward Lukacz Tumicz had a SLU defender on his hip, but fired a shot that banked off the left post and caromed into the net. Gonsalves picked up the assist on the play.

The Billikens made a critical defensive misplay in the 64th minute to hand URI the lead. Bills keeper Jeff Sackman seemingly miscommunicated with his defense as he looked to move the ball up field, and had Rams freshman forward Kedan Crosby poke the ball away. Crosby slowly rolled the ball 30 yards into a yawning net.

"I haven't really talked to the guys about what happened on that play, but that kind of mistake can't happen at this level of competition," Donigan said.

Saint Louis began to pick up the pressure and tied the game in the 82nd minute. Bills freshman midfielder Dado Hamzagic sent a ball into the box to senior captain Ryan Wileman, who fought off two URI defenders and quickly popped a 12-yard shot over Ruddy.

With URI hanging on as fatigue settled in, SLU got the better of the offensive chances in the two overtime sessions. Bills sophomore midfielder Andrew Reeder almost ended the game with three minutes left in the first overtime when he fired a shot from 15 yards, but Ruddy was there to make the save. In all, SLU out-shot the Rams 4-1 in the two overtimes.

Saint Louis (9-5-5) out-shot the Rams 16-12 and had a 6-3 edge in corners. URI's Ruddy made six saves, and Sackman had four stops while his defense also came to the rescue once.

"I still believe that we have a team that deserves to be in the NCAA Tournament," Donigan said. "We've got some quality wins, lost only once in our last 10 games, won the league regular-season title and dropped the title match on kicks. We had a number of hurdles along the way, and we handled it pretty well. I'd like to see this group rewarded with the opportunity to keep playing."

Rhode Island (13-7-2) advances to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years. The Rams will learn their first round opponent and destination during the selection show at 3 p.m. (CT) tomorrow on ESPNews.

RHODE ISLAND 2, SAINT LOUIS 2 (OT) URI advances on PKs 5-3
SLU  18:21  John DiRaimondo 28 yds off free kick (unassisted)
URI  26:56  Lukasz Tumicz 12 yds to left post from Jeffrey Gonsalves
URI  63:06  Kedan Crosby 30 yd roller off giveaway (unassisted)
SLU  81:52  Dado Hamzagic

Shots: URI - 12, SLU- 16 Corners: URI - 3, SLU - 6 Saves: URI - 6 (Ruddy), SLU - 5 (Sackman-4/Team-1) Fouls: URI - 17, SLU - 15 ATT: 1,021

2005 A-10All-Tournament Team Goalkeeper - Nick Tarkany, Dayton Back - Kenny Cook, UMass Midfielder - Floyd Franks, Charlotte Midfielder - Jeffrey Gonsalves, Rhode Island Midfielder - Simon Gatti, Rhode Island Midfielder - Alex Matteson, Saint Louis Midfielder - Eric Sweetin, Saint Louis Forward - Ryan Wileman, Saint Louis Forward - Steve Mellor, Duquesne Forward - Omar Jarun, Dayton Forward - Lukasz Tumicz, Rhode Island Most Outstanding Player: Simon Gatti, Rhode Island