Bulldogs Win 2-0 at York, Coach Quints' 200th Victory

Photo by Jakob Komel
Article by Marcus Fernandes
 
The McPherson Men's Soccer team headed to Nebraska for their fifth KCAC game of the season. Looking to improve their winning streak, the McPherson team dealt with some adversity to bring home a 2-0 victory over the York College Panthers, the 200^th career win for head coach Doug Quint.

The Bulldogs started the game by controlling the actions and implementing their rhythm. Everything looked as expected until (Jr.) Isaiah Alexander had to leave the field after a shocking injury.
Despite this unfortunate episode to one of their teammates, the McPherson team showed character and composure to honor Isaiah. After a 40 minute stoppage of play while Alexander was attended to, the Bulldogs started to dominate the game even more. Down a man because of a red card shown to a Panther player for the reckless tackle on Alexander, the Panthers had to play even more defensively than before.  They finished the half without conceding a goal. However, it was just a matter of time for the first goal of the game.

The two teams played most of the second half in one half of the field. In the 61st minute of the game, (So.) Sam Box crossed the ball inside the box on the floor. The ball was flicked on by  (Sr.) Marcus Fernandes and found its way to the foot of (Sr.) Carlos Reyna, who slipped the ball to the net. The goal hurt the Panthers in the game. Continuing to play down a man and now trailing on the scoreboard, the team did not respond well after the goal. Nine minutes later, the Bulldogs scored their second goal of the game. Similar to the first goal, (So.) Samuel box crossed the ball on the floor, and (So.) Jorge Ramos was there to seal the result.

Defensively, between the pipes, (So.) Colby Swift had another outstanding performance and secured the clean sheet for the Bulldogs. He faced five shots on goal, including a point blank header midway through the 2^nd half. He made a brilliant diving save to keep the score knotted at zero.

After the game, Bulldog Head Coach Doug Quint expressed his thoughts on the game, "First and foremost my heart goes out to Isaiah for the brutal injury he sustained. I wish him the absolute best in tonight with his surgery and road to recovery. Today was certainly a day that I will always remember. Not just for the 200^th win, which is a testament of me surrounding myself with good people, but for everything our team had to deal with today."

With the win, the Bulldogs move to 7-3 overall and 4-1 in the KCAC. On Wednesday, they will host Bethel College at Paul Family Field at 7:30 p.m.