McPherson, Kan. – For the first time since 2009, the McPherson College men's soccer team are the champions of the KCAC following their 2-0 win over Bethany College. The Bulldogs have to share the crown with Kansas Wesleyan as they both finished 8-0-1 in conference; MC will earn the top seed in the upcoming postseason tournament as they hold the goal-differential tie-breaker.
"What a great finish to a wonderful regular season for us," said Coach Quint. "We played well again today created a lot but struggled to break a good Bethany team down. I am so proud for our seniors that have come so close over their four years to finally earn that regular season championship. There is a lot of soccer left for us to play but we are certainly going to enjoy this!"
In the opening 45, the Bulldogs held possession early and had a couple of chances but were unable to capitalize. Bethany stayed back on defense and stopped any McPherson attack and forced a 0-0 draw at the break despite getting outshot 10-2. In the second half, the shooting bombardment continued as the 'Dogs kept challenging the BC defense and in the 61st minute, it paid off as Kevin Aka scored on a beautiful assist from Oscar Cortez. Mac scored again in the 76th as Nick Torres put in a Tito Ruiz corner. McPherson held off any late comeback from the Swedes to claim the 2-0 victory.
Mac held a 21-3 shot ratio on Bethany. Cortez and Torres each logged a team-high four shots; both also saw two of their attempts go on frame. Alex Ronneburg and Aka both recorded three shots, putting them second on the team.
Tanner Horton had another quiet day between the pipes for the Bulldogs as he logged just one save in his 90 minutes.
The Bulldogs are off until November 13th when the will play in the semifinals of the KCAC Postseason tournament; their opponent is yet to be determined but the match will be played at 5:00 p.m. (CT) at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka, Kansas.
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McPherson College is a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference member school and a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
