Kissimmee, Fla. – The Central Christian College of Kansas Tigers headed down to Kissimmee, Florida and the Austin-Tindall Soccer Complex for the 2023 NCCAA D1 National Championship and come into the tournament seeded #4. The tournament starts with two days of pool play that will result in our final four teams. Central fell into Pool C along with #3 seeded Carolina University and #7 seed Trinity Christian College. The Tigers start Pool Play against the Trinity Christian College Trolls who were able to tie with Carolina University yesterday. 

The Tigers wasted no time in setting the tone against Trinity Christian. Just three minutes into the game, Marco Cherchi found the back of the net for the Tigers on a perfect cross from Drew Schrader. With a 1-0 lead and the Trolls on their heels, Central continued to dominate the possession as they looked to extend their lead. This score would hold up for the remainder of the first half and the Tigers would attempt to carry this momentum over in the second half. 

After the break, it was back and forth until the Trolls were able to sneak one past TJ Foster in the 70th minute to even the score at 1-1. The Tigers aimed to respond but could not get anything going against the potent Trinity Christian defense. 

Getting in to the late stages of the game and Tiger fans were wondering if there was going to be more last second magic similar to their first game of the season. Johnny Rodriguez would answer that call for the Tigers. With three seconds left, he was able to send a shot just past the Trolls keeper. At first, there was initial confusion of whether or not it was a goal. To the delight of Central and their fans, the referees signaled it was in fact a goal for the Tigers. With a 2-1 lead and just three seconds remaining, the Tigers seemed to have pulled off the impossible. After a failed effort by the Trolls to get a shot off and seeing the clock hit zero, the Tigers celebrated their victory and secured themselves three points in their first game of Pool Play. 

Coach Aaron Hoxie had this to say about his teams performance tonight, "Before I give my thoughts on the match, wanted to take a moment to say thanks to all of those that put us here. From administration, parents, doners, etc, we say our heartfelt thanks." 

"Today was always going to end up the way that it did, in an all out grinder. We knew TCC quality, and they are not a 7 seed. These guys were really good. The transfers they brought in were NAIA qualifiers the year before. This just served to change our mentality, and we knew the kind of fight it was going to be." 

"Coming in, we knew we had to win the tactical battle. Forcing them wide, and into crosses was always going to be the order for the day. If we did that, we would eliminate their quality in the middle, and reduce their influence in the game. Once we got the goal, it was always going to be a tall task for them to break us down, and of course it would be a set piece. I believe the 9th we've given up this season, frustrating we lose concentration." 

"Still...we had plenty of chances to put the game away, and finally we had some luck to our way. I thought that this was deserved, biased obviously, but the quality of chances were in our favor overall." 

"Onto the next match, tomorrow (Wednesday 5pm cst), will be another good one. Carolina are ball players and deserving of their rank. For us, it will be about mindset. We need to reset minds tonight, and get after it." 

Awaiting the Tigers are the #3 seed Carolina University Bruins tomorrow night at 5:00PM CST. With a win, Central would win their pool and put themselves in good position to advance to the semi-finals on Friday, December 1st.