Campbellsville, KY - For the first time since 1996, the UC Patriots are Mid-South Conference Champions. Coming into the tournament as the #3 seed, Cumberlands defeated #1 seed Bethel, 2-1 to take home the trophy.
Notching four goals in the tournament and today's game winning goal was
Sergio Infantes Castell. Defender,
Nemanja Jovanovic scored in back-to-back games for the first this season and put UC on the scoreboard initially.
Cumberlands set the tone early on in the match, recording three shots in the first 15 minutes of action. Their constant attacking threat led to the first goal of the game in the 21
st minute of play. UC was awarded a free kick just outside the 18-yard box, near the corner flag. Infantes Castell sent the ball low into the box where
Rodrigo Riveros was waiting on the near post. Riveros redirected the ball to the other side of the net where Jovanovic was unmarked and slotted it into the net on his first touch.
With five minutes left in the first half, Bethel was able to tie it up off a mishandled ball from the UC defense.
The last time the team's met up this season it ended in a 1-1 tie in regulation and was forced to overtime to decide the winner. The Patriots made sure the game was decided after 90 minutes with their go-ahead goal in the 53'. Once again controlling the tempo of the game,
Hrannar Magnusson intercepted the ball in Wildcats' defensive half. He drew three defenders towards him as he dribbled to the top of the 18-yard box. He found Infantes Castell on the left side of the box, wide open. Infantes Castell took a touch and then fired the ball into the bottom corner of the net to put UC up 2-1.
Bethel spent the rest of the game looking for the equalizer but the Patritos' defense was relentless led by Jovanovic,
Joel Drewery,
Aleksandar Mirkovic and
Tommaso Ogliari across the backline. In goal,
Akililu Zambataro made four saves in the contest. His biggest one came just a few minutes into the second half, Bethel fired off three shots in less than two minutes, the first was blocked by Olgiari and the final shot was saved by Zambataro to leave the Wildcats with just one goal in the game.
As the #3 seed, UC becomes just the third team in MSC Tournament history to be outside the top-two seeds and leave the tournament as champions. The Patriots have been on a tear as of late, winning their last eight games and outscoring opponents 26-3.
Having secured a spot in the NAIA Tournament with their semifinals win, UC will now await their location and seed for the NAIA Opening Round. The selection show will be at 12 PM on Monday April, 19 on the NAIA's Facebook page.
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