Photo by Kami Wood
McPherson, Kan. – The Central Christian College men's soccer team picked up their first Sooner Athletic Conference win on Tuesday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over the Texas Wesleyan University Rams in front of the home faithful.
In the first 10 minutes, the Rams looked like the sharper side as the Tiger men struggled to connect passes and create any real scoring opportunities. That all changed in the 10th minute of the opening half. The Tigers forced a turnover in the midfield, and Logan Singh (So. Colorado Springs, Colo.), took the ball down the left sideline. He played a ball into the middle to Johnny Rodriguez (Jr. Anaheim, Calif.), checking back. He quickly turned and slotted a pass between two Ram defenders to Drew Schrader (Sr. McPherson, Kan.), running on. He fired a shot with his right foot from about 15 yards out to the far post past the diving Rams' goal keeper.
For the remaining 35 minutes of the first half, and 25 minutes of the second frame, the Tigers were a different team. They played physical in the midfield, quickly turned defense in to offense, played quick, and tactically and technically sound. Their elevated level of play led to goals in the 56th and 62nd minutes of the second half. The first goal of the second half came off the foot of Camilo Penafiel (So. Santiago, Chile). The play started with Rodriguez playing a ball into the box to Schrader. Instead of turning and firing a shot of his own, he instead laid the ball off with a nifty one-touch pass to Penafiel, who fired a bullet. The Rams' goal keeper got a hand on the ball, but it wasn't enough to stop it from finding the back of the net.
The Tigers' third goal was a result of a great "advantage" call by the center referee. Marco Cherchi (So. Fontaneto D'Agogna, Italy), collected the ball off of a turnover by the Rams in their defensive third. As he dribbled across the top of the 18 yard box, he was fouled from behind. As fans were screaming for a foul to be called, the ball found the foot of Penafiel and the referee allowed the play to continue. Camilo played the ball to Schrader and he slotted his second goal of the game to put the Tigers up 3 nil.
With a three goal advantage on the scoreboard, the Tigers seemed to relax and their level of play drastically dropped off. The Rams went on the attack, and the Tigers found themselves on the defensive for the final 20 minutes of action. The Rams took advantage of a failed defensive clear in the 69th minute, and eliminated the Tigers' chance at their third clean sheet of the season.
Despite conceding the late goal, the Tigers' Rodolfo Ramirez (Jr. Mission Viejo, Calif.), was fantastic in net. He finished with three saves in picking up his fifth win of the season.
Coach Hoxie summed up the Tigers' performance saying, "Overall, I can't complain with three points. When we were concentrating and locked in, we executed the game plan really well. We attacked the spaces, we turn them over, and generally caused them problems. Had some really good individual play in these moments."
He went on to add, "I am frustrated because we let our standard drop the final 20 minutes. We lost our identity and quit doing the things that earned us the 3 points. As a result, we let them back into the match. It was completely our own doing. We spoke about love in pregame, and loving is caring about the standard so much, that you never waver from it. Today, the loving thing to do was put the sword in it, it was the final clinch from the jaw, and we lacked it, thus dropping the standard. Lesson to be learned because it is not often we find ourselves here. I have FULL confidence in these players and they know I love them."
With the win, the Tigers are now 6-2-2 on the season, and 1-2 in SAC conference play. They will be back in action at home again on Saturday for a 4:30 pm match-up with the Oklahoma City University Stars.
