York, NE – It was a banner day for the McPherson College men's soccer team. Not only did they get back to .500 by picking up a 4-2 win, on the road, against the York College Panthers, but they passed an important milestone in the process. Wednesday's win is the 100
th KCAC conference win for Bulldog head coach
Doug Quint, who is in his 16
th season at the helm of the men's program.
The Bulldogs took control of the game early in the first half. They lit up the scoreboard I the 8
th minute when
Chris Kelly (Sr. Glasgow, Scotland), picked off a Panther pass deep inside the 18 yard box. He quickly played the ball across the goal mouth to
Sadam Ali (Sr. Tucson, Ariz.), who was waiting there to finish it off.
Thirty minutes later,
Valentin Ramirez (Jr. Alicante, Spain), played a long ball into the box from the left side. Kelly was headed the ball, from the penalty spot, toward the lower left corner of the goal. The Panther goalkeeper made a reactionary save with his right hand, keeping the initial shot out of the net. Fortunately for the Bulldogs,
Guido Battisini (Jr. Pilar, Argentina) was crashing the goal and was able to slam home the rebound, putting the Bulldogs up 2-0.
The Bulldogs put a stamp on the first half, going up 3-0 in the period, on an own goal by the Panthers.
Diego Loza (Sr. San Diego, Calif.), took the initial shot that the Panther goal keeper saved point blank. Fighting for the rebound, Loza poked the ball toward the now vacant goal. Trying to keep the ball out of the net, a Panther defender kicked the ball into the net.
The second half was a different story. The Bulldogs came out a little lax on both ends of the field, and after honoring their seniors at halftime, the Panthers played with a different energy. Fourteen minutes into the second session, the Panther finally broke through and got on the board. Nine minutes later things got a little more interesting when the Panthers found the net a second time and the Bulldogs' once comfortable three goal lead, was now down to a single goal.
With 25 minutes left in regulation, the Bulldogs got the ship going back in the right direction. They found their focus, and they returned to form. In the final minute of the game, Mac received some insurance on a goal by Kelly, assisted by Battisini.
Statistically it was a fairly even match. The Panthers had the edge in total shots 16-10, but just one more shot on goal, than the Bulldogs at 8-7.
Thomas Kleywegt (Jr. Gravesend, England), who was in goal for the Bulldogs, and got the win, came up with saves on 4 of the 8 shots by the Panthers. The other two saves were credited to the team.
"We had a fantastic first half in a lot of ways," said Bulldog head coach
Doug Quint. "We kind of took the foot off the gas pedal in the second half and allowed them back in the game, but It was nice to see us finish strong with a nice goal at the end." Commenting on his 100
th KCAC victory, Quint said, "This milestone is a product of the great players that have come through this program, that I have been blessed to be able to coach, and the assistant coaches that have stood on the sidelines with me. I couldn't have done it without all of them."
With the win, the Bulldogs even up their overall record at 6-6-3, and they pull into sole possession of 4
th place in the KCAC standings at 6-2-2. They will take the pitch again on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 PM, at McPherson Stadium, when they welcome the Avila College Eagles to town on senior day.
