August 1, 2008-If form held during the National Premier Soccer League Final Four at Mitchel Athletic Complex tonight, the two undefeated teams, the Long Island Academy and the Sonoma County Sol, would advance to the finals. But form did not hold.

In the first game of this semifinal doubleheader, the Pennsylvania Stoners (10-1-0) defeated the Sol with a 3-1 victory. Brandon Boone struck the net in the 6th minute for the Californians but Pat Cucci replied two minutes later for the Stoners. The Stoners closed out the match with goals by Adam Welch (67th minute) and Tom Ehrlich (89th) to advance to the finals. The Sol's otherwise sunny season ended at 8-1-3.

To the disappointment of the 1,000 soccer fans at Mitchel Athletic Complex, the St. Paul Twin Stars (6-2-0) eliminated the Long Island Academy (8-1-2) on penalty kicks after overtime ended at 1-1. The Academy got on the board with a Jose Batista goal in the 13th minute. The shot from 15 yards came from a Shaun Higgins cross that was not cleared. Although the home team dominated much of the first half, three shots by Gustavo Dias did not result in goals, including a wonderful attempt from 25 yards midway through the first half.

The Academy's Achilles heal all season, which head coach Adrian Gaitan warned them about, came back to bite them as they gave up another goal late in a half. Academy keeper Billy Gatti got a hand on but could not stop Richard Karmara's 28-yard blast in the 41st minute.

The second half had few shots but two red cards. Dias, the Academy's leading scorer, was sent off in the 87th minute for violent conduct to end a frustrating night for him. Adam Diawara of the Minnesota side was red carded in the 89th minute for his second caution. So 10 vs. 10 for 30 minutes of overtime.

The Academy's Jose Campos had an opportunity at the beginning of the first overtime plus his solo run and 10-yard blast at the end of the second, in the 119th minute, almost won the game. But that shot was saved by Twin Stars' keeper Zane Vong. The busiest man on the field was referee Jose Carlos Rivera who whistled 46 fouls and handed out nine cards during the 120 minutes.

After being deadlocked at 1-1 after overtime, the Twin Stars won the penalty kick shootout, 4-2, ending the Academy's undefeated season and dreams of winning the NPSL championship on home soil.

"It's very disappointing. We laid an egg," commented Coach Gaitan. "Here we are in front of a great home crowd and we stopped playing. We're the best team here but we didn't show it tonight."

So the Pennsylvania Stoners and St. Paul Twin Stars meet in the final at 12:30 pm this Sunday, August 3 at Mitchel Athletic Complex.