Fort Wayne, IN – The Patriots continue their historic run in the postseason and are now advancing to the NAIA Final Site for the first time in program history. Second-seeded Cumnberlands defeated the top-seed in the Fort Wayne Bracket, Indiana Tech, 2-0.

The Warriors defeated the Patriots in the first game of the 2020-21 season back on November 7 by a score of 1-0. But UC has continued to improve all season currently riding a 10-game win streak outscoring opponents 36-3. Before today's match, Indiana Tech had only lost one game all season and Cumberlands is just the second team to score more than a goal against Indiana Tech.

The goalscorers for the Patriots were Rodrigo Riveros who scored his third of the NAIA Opening Round and Milan Stojanovic who netted his fourth of the season.

Cumberlands wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard, netting their first goal off their first shot of the game. In the 15' Joel Drewery dribbled the ball to the endline on the right side of the pitch. He crossed the ball to Riveros, who scored the ball off his knee to give UC the 1-0 advantage.

Akililu Zambataro made it his second consecutive game that he recorded six saves to keep the Warriors from scoring. With just over 10 minutes left in the first half Indiana Tech was on the attack with the ball in the box. They shot the ball, but Zambataro was up to the challenge pushing the ball away from harm.

The Patriots took their 1-0 lead into halftime and then weathered the storm of the Warriors' attack well. Indiana Tech recorded six shots in the first 15 minutes. Zamabatro had a pair of saves over that time. The defensive line for the Patriots of Drewery Aleksandar Mirkovic and Nemanja Jovanovic played key roles in the game. All of them blocked two shots over the game to keep the attack at bay.

Late in the game the Warriors were pushing to try and find the equalizer. In the 70' Indiana Tech had a free kick opportunity that was in close range of UC's goal. Zambataro once again rose to the challenge diving to keep the ball out of the net.

After being subbed into the game in the 78^th minute, Milan Stojanovic doubled Cumberlands' lead in the 82^nd minute. Drewery once again had the ball down the right side of the field and crossed it into the box. He found Luis Jara Encina who laid off the ball on his first touch to Stojanovic right in front of the net. Stojanovic struck the ball with his left foot to send it soaring past the keeper to put UC up 2-0.

Indiana Tech had two shots in the waning minutes, but neither converted giving the Patriots the win and securing their spot in the NAIA Final Site. Cumberlands improves to 5-0 this post season and outscoring their opponents 17-2, two of which are ranked in the top-ten and four are at least receiving votes.

The Final Site will be in Columbia County, GA from May 4-10. The schedule and seedings for the teams will be announced by the NAIA tomorrow April 25.

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