And the Soul delivered.

On a play that began with 7.1 seconds remaining in the game, Soul quarterback Matt D'Orazio found wide receiver Larry Brackins on a crossing pattern, and the 6-foot-4, 221-pound second-year man barreled toward the end zone and just managed to reach across the goal line.

Only after the officials had reviewed the play was it allowed to stand, and the Soul had a 49-48 victory in the divisional playoff game that put them in the National Conference championship game for the first time.

"Larry just ran a nice dig route, and he used his big body to get the ball in the end zone," D'Orazio said. "We're blessed to get a chance to play next week."

The Soul improved to 14-4 with the win at the Wachovia Center, while the visitors finished with a 9-9 record.

The Soul will host the winner of tomorrow night's Southern Division playoff game between the Cleveland Gladiators (10-7) and the Georgia Force (10-6) for the conference championship. That game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.

The ArenaBowl will be played July 27 in New Orleans.

"We're going back to review the film and prepare for the conference championship," Soul coach Bret Munsey said. "We're going to get better for next week. I didn't know it would come down to that one last play to win, but we'll take it any way we can."

It was the third time this season that the Dragons had faced the Eastern Division champion Soul, who downed New York at home, 63-42, and on the road, 59-30, to end the regular season.

The first two times they met, the teams were testy.

Soul quarterback Tony Graziani missed much of the season after a late hit left him with a knee injury on March 16. And in the contentious rematch on June 22, both starting quarterbacks were knocked out of the game and did not return.

Last night, the teams mostly competed hard.

The Soul were ahead by 16-6 at the end of the first quarter. Their advantage shrank to 16-13 with 11 minutes, 9 seconds remaining in the second period.

New York scored the next nine points with a safety and a touchdown to take a 22-16 lead. That was before Soul wide receiver Chris Jackson caught his second scoring pass of the game with 12 seconds left in the half to give the Soul a 23-22 edge.

The Dragons still had enough time, however, to add a 44-yard field goal by Steve Azar that gave them a 25-23 lead at the break.

A 1-yard run by fullback Clifton Smith with 7:09 remaining in the third period put the Soul ahead by 30-25, which was the score entering the fourth quarter.