Photo by Lizzie Caron
Bethany, Okla. – The Central Christian College men's soccer team wrapped up the NAIA portion of their season on Saturday afternoon, falling in double overtime 3-2 to Southwestern Christian University in the quarterfinals of the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament.
The Eagles were the higher seed, earning the no. 2 line and the Tigers landed on the no. 7 line. The two team met in McPherson back in late September on the Tigers' home pitch. It was a highly competitive match that resulted in a 0-0 draw. Both sides played at an extremely high level again on Saturday afternoon, but this match saw a lot more offense.
The Tigers got on the board first, 13 minutes into the opening frame when Nicholas Arenare hit a laser from about 30 yards out off an assist from Drew Schrader. The scored remained 1 nil for the rest of the half but six minutes into the second frame, the Eagles got the equalizer, knotting the score a 1-1.
Three minutes later, the Tigers retook the lead this time Schrader found the back of the net, freed up by some nifty footwork from Arenare and Marco Cherchi. The Eagles once again responded with the equalizer, tying the game at 2 in the 61st minute. The physicality went up a notch in the final 30 minutes, no more goals were scored, but there were six yellow cards handed out from the referee.
Tied a 2 at the end of regulation, the game headed into overtime. New to soccer this year in the NAIA, overtime would be a minimum of two periods played to full time, doing away with the old "golden goal" scenario. Six minutes into the first overtime period the Eagles hit what would turn out being the game winner off of a corner kick. The Tigers were unable to find their equalizer in the remaining 14 minutes of play and the Eagles lived to fight another day, while the Tigers' run at the SAC tournament came to an end.
Sebastian Herrera played all 110 minutes in goal for the Tigers. He faced 11 shots on goal, turning away eight of them.
Coach Hoxie summed up the match saying, "That was a really good game that we just experienced. The guys followed and executed a game plan and worked their tails off. Fifty shots between the two teams is the definition of wide open. Loads of action. It must have been a good spectacle. Ultimately, the game was won and lost in both boxes. We made a couple of mistakes and there was a little luck involved but that's the game. Deflections, misskicks, are all a part of the sport, and we didn't get the bounces today when we needed them." He went on to add, "Time to rest up. I'll give the boys some time off. Then we will get ready for the NCCAA Regionals in a few weeks."
The loss drops the Tigers to 9-6-4 overall, and as Coach Hoxie alluded to, they will get at least one more game in the NCCAA Regional tournament in a couple of weeks. Ironically it could be against the same Eagle team they faced on Saturday.
