York, Neb – The McPherson College men's soccer season came to an end on Saturday with a 5-2 loss in the quarterfinals of the KCAC Conference Tournament.
The Bulldogs were outplayed by the Panthers, on their home pitch, from start to finish. York outshot their visitors 17 to 8, and had 11 shots on goal, six more than the Bulldogs. In their last few games, the Bulldogs have allowed their opponents to jump out early with quick goals. Saturday was no exception. The Panthers got on the board in the second minute of the game. The Bulldog defense conceded a second goal in the 20
th minute, and then settled down and played even with the Panthers the rest of the first half.
Trailing 2-0 at the break, the Bulldogs played better, to start the second half. That changed in the 59
th minute when the Panthers scored their third goal of the game. They added a fourth goal in the 79
th minute and then their fifth and final goal ten minutes later. The Bulldogs finally broke through and got on the scoreboard in the 89
th minute when
Marcus Fernandes (Jr. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) beat the goal keeper on a pass from
Guido Battistini (Sr. Pilar, Argentina). With less than five seconds left in the game, Battistini found the back of the net, this time on an assist from
Alex Marca (Sr. Atascadero, Calif.).
Thomas Kleywegt (Sr. Gravesend, England), who was playing his final game in a Bulldog uniform, played all 90 minutes in goal, and finished with six saves.
"We have had trouble getting off to a good start all year and today was no different", commented Bulldog head coach
Doug Quint. "No more than a couple of minutes in, and we are already playing from behind." Quint went on to give credit to the Panthers saying, "York was brilliant today right of the gate and beat us in all facets of the game."
With the loss, the Bulldogs finish the season with a .500 record at 9-9 and 7-5 in conference matches.
