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Teaneck, NJ -- On a championship stage made for magic moments, FDU's Jaime Barbero (Valencia, Spain/IES Fuente San Luis) provided an iconic finish, cementing his place in FDU and NEC lore.

The All-NEC senior striker walked it off for the Knights at University Stadium, heading home the golden goal off a perfectly placed Ryan Kopay (Coraopolis, PA/Moon Township (Akron)) cross just four minutes into overtime to lift FDU to a 1–0 victory over Saint Franciss, securing its record 10th NEC Tournament title and 11th championship overall.

The 10 tournament crowns put FDU one ahead of St. Francis Brooklyn for the most in NEC history.

The top-seeded Knights (13-4-3) controlled the entire contest, holding No. 2 Saint Francis (8-9-1) shotless throughout the match, while FDU fired off 12 shots of its own, including six in the second half.

The first 45 minutes was a back-and-forth defensive battle, but the Knights were the only ones testing the keeper, firing four with with one coming on target. SFU had one chance off a corner, but the Knights' defense was up to the task.

NEC Goalkeeper of the Year Diego Garciarena (Asuncion, Paraguay) made a key save for the Red Flash on a quick FDU counterattack off a Barbero interception just outside the box.

The second half was more of the same with Garciarena stepping up again with four more saves over the final 45 minutes of regulation. He finished the match with six stops.

Barbero was tabbed to the NEC All-Tournament Team for the second time in his career after being selected as Tournament MVP when the Knights won it all in 2022.

Connor O’Reilly (Donegal, Ireland/St. Joseph's College (William Penn)) was named the Tournament MVP. The grad student scored twice in FDU’s 3-1 semifinal win over Le Moyne.

FDU has punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in program history. The Knights will find out their next opponent during the NCAA selection show on Monday, November 17, which will be streamed on NCAA.com.

2025 NEC Men’s Soccer All-Tournament Team
Connor O’Reilly, FDU (MVP)
Jaime Barbero, FDU
Gabriel Le Guen, FDU
Arnau Rabassa Guillamon, FDU
Alex De Nittis, Saint Francis
Andre Isreal, Saint Francis
Jonah Wolf, Saint Francis
Maximilian Huss, Le Moyne
Francesco Pagano, Le Moyne
Sam Keogan, LIU
Francisco Tolaba, LIU