Men's Soccer Loses KCAC Tournament Final to Friends in Penalty-Kick Shootout

WICHITA, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College men's soccer team saw its 2016 season draw to a close with a 4-2 shootout loss to Friends University in the championship final of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) Men's Soccer Tournament Saturday night at Adair-Austin Stadium.

After playing a scoreless first half, the teams combined for six goals in the second 45 minutes before playing 20 minutes of golden-goal overtime to send the match to a penalty-kick shootout with a 3-3 draw.

Friends (14-5-2) struck first as Demetri Karabinas scored off an assist by Omar lsmail Garcia in the 49th minute. The Falcons then added an unassisted goal by Hugo Chiaradia eight minutes later to take a 2-0 lead.

McPherson (14-4-3) responded with three goals to take a 3-2 lead. Brayam De La Cruz (Bellevue, Idaho, College of Idaho) put the Bulldogs on the board in the 69th minute by converting a free kick from outside the 18-yard box. De La Cruz tied the game with another tally in the 77th minute off short one-touches by Christopher Kelly (Glasgow, Scotland, St. Ambrose HS) and Nick Torres (McPherson, Kan., McPherson HS), then, before the cheering had stopped for De La Cruz's second goal, Kelly put McPherson ahead off an assist from Torres. Only 27 seconds elapsed between the two goals.

The Bulldogs needed only to defend for the final 13 minutes of regulation to punch their ticket to the national tournament, but the Falcons were able to net the equalizer in the 80th minute as Nicolas Fornari beat McPherson keeper Arthur Lamparter (Schweinfurt, Germany, University of Houston-Victoria) with an unassisted goal. Each team was only to manage one more shot in regulation and one in the first overtime, but Friends fired off five shots to McPherson's two in the second overtime -- three of which required a save from Lamparter.

Both teams converted their chance in the first round of the shootout, but the Falcons grabbed a 2-1 edge when Karabinas beat new Bulldog keeper Aaron Parrott (Wichita, Kan., Rose Hill HS) - who entered the game specifically for the shootout. De La Cruz's opportunity to draw even was stopped by Florian Dupuis. Friends maintained its one-goal edge after both teams were successful with their third-round chances and moved in front, 4-2, with Ernesto Conesa Rodriguez's convert in the fourth round. Needing to convert to extend the shootout, Jesus Pescador (Valencia, Calif., College of the Canyons)'s opportunity was cut off by Dupuis, causing the Falcons' bench to erupt in jubilation.

Friends outshot McPherson, 22-12, overall but held just an 11-8 advantage in shots on goal. The Falcons also had nine corner kicks to the Bulldogs' three.

De La Cruz led McPherson with five shots, while David Mwinga (Santa Rosa, Calif., Santa Rosa JC) added four. The pair combined to account for six of the Bulldogs' eight shots on goal. Kelly and Edward Gomez (Lancaster, Calif., College of the Canyons) accounted for McPherson's other two shots. Ismail Garcia and KCAC Offensive Player of the Year Leonardo Sosa also had four shots each to lead Friends.

Lamparter was credited with five saves on eight shots faced, while the Bulldogs also had three team saves. Dupuis registered four saves with teammates combining for a fifth Falcon save.

"Our players showed a lot of heart tonight," said head coach Doug Quint. "I'm very proud of them and, certainly, will miss this great group of seniors."