Fayette, Mo. – The No. 1 seeded Central Methodist men's soccer program advanced to their third consecutive Heart Tournament championship, defeating No. 4 William Penn 3-1 in the semifinals Wednesday evening at Davis Field.
Central moves to 18-1 overall while the Statesmen conclude their season with a 12-8 mark.
The Eagles started the first half with a very high pace and less than 15 minutes into the match, an initial shot by Christian Sanchez, was blocked. However, the ball landed in front of Clayton Duarte who fired it in the bottom right corner past the keeper, giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead. In the 18th minute, Duarte headed a ball into the box and Theo Klein scored an impressive first-time volley putting Central up by two goals. The Statesmen added one to the scoreboard before halftime, trimming Central's lead to 2-1. WPU outshot CMU 8-6 with four shots and each coming on goal in the first 45 minutes of action.
In the second half, CMU kept their high pace and held William Penn to only four shots. In the 69thminute, Jayton Johnson was fouled inside the box and Klein put the PK in the back of the net to stretch Central's lead to 3-1.
CMU finished the game with 18 shots, led by Klein with who collected five shots and a brace. Carlos Scheckermann also had five shots with four on goal and Duarte finished the game with two shots, one goal and one assist. Alessandro Salvadego, Mark Csongradi, Marcos German, Jonathan Gibula, Lucas Pardo and Felipe Pinto Rojas all finishes with a shot each.
Bosco Pery played all 90 minutes between the posts, allowing one goal and recording six saves.
The Eagles will host longtime rival No. 2 seed Missouri Valley College Saturday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m. in the Heart of America Tournament Championship game.
#TakeFlight
