IRVINE, Calif. – A pair of second-half goals secured a 2-0 victory over Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) on Wednesday afternoon and pushed the No. 1 Central Methodist University men's soccer program through to the 2019 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship Semifinal Round.
With the win, the Eagles move to 23-1 on the season, breaking the school record for single-season wins set a season ago at 22.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Conditions were less than ideal as torrential rain all day forced play to move from the standard grass field at OC Great Park Soccer complex to a turf field within the same facility. Both teams battled and left everything on the field in a true test of grit.
The first half ended in a 0-0 tie as neither team could break through. In the 57th minute, the Eagles got on the board courtesy of a UNOH mishap deep in their own end. Rodrigo Paredes (JR/Asuncion, Paraguay) passed a dangerous ball to Alberto Pangrazzi (SR/Lavis (TN), Italy) that caught the Racers out of position and resulted in an own goal.
With just inside seven minutes to play, Pangrazzi cashed in on the stat sheet with a goal set up by a great cross into the box from Daniel Hernandez (SO/Bogota, Colombia).
M⚽️ | @cmueagles finds the back of the net to score second goal of the game with 8 minutes left to play. The Eagles led UNOH 2-0 #NAIAMSoccer #PlayNAIA pic.twitter.com/z837Lt019S
— NAIA (@NAIA) December 4, 2019
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
Both defenses played stout, as the Eagles could only muster 11 shots and the Racers only had five. Central Methodist only placed two of those shots on goal. The Eagles did have five corner kicks compared to just one for UNOH.
Vince Gelei (SR/Dunakeszi, Hungary) earned the save in the box after placing a hand on three shots from the Racers.
UP NEXT:
The Eagles will face the winner of Missouri Valley and No. 5 seed Lindsey Wilson on Friday, December 6th, to battle for an appearance in the championship game. Match time is set for 6 PM (CST).
