By: John Kean, Sports Information Director
ROLLA, Mo. – Following a thrilling rally and then a win in a penalty kick shootout, Missouri S&T's men's soccer team will play in its second-ever semifinal game in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Friday when it faces top-seeded Rockhurst in Kansas City, Mo.
The Miners and Hawks – ranked fifth in the latest NSCAA Division II rankings -- will play in the second semifinal contest at 7:30 p.m. on the Hawks' home pitch, following the first game between Indianapolis and Quincy at 5 p.m. The championship game will take place at Rockhurst Sunday at 1 p.m.
S&T and Rockhurst in the conference opener on Sept. 11 in Kansas City with the Hawks pulling a 1-0 win on Claudio Romero's goal in the 89
th minute of play when he headed in a free kick. That loss dropped the Miners to 0-3 on the season at the time, but S&T has gone 10-4-2 since to bring a 10-7-2 mark into Friday's contest; it finished 9-5-1 in GLVC play.
The Miners got goals from
Felipe Andrade (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and
Maxi Fuchs (Munich, Germany) Sunday as they rallied from a 2-0 deficit with just over 22 minutes to play to extend the game. It marked the first time the Miners have come back from two goals behind to earn at least a tie since Sept. 22, 2013, when they came back for an overtime win at Illinois Springfield.
In the shootout, the Miners got the decisive tally from
David Murphy (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) in the sixth round before
James Holloway (Cape Girardeau, Mo./Notre Dame Regional) stopped the Pumas' final attempt to send the Miners on to the semifinals.
Holloway, who recorded his fourth straight shutout earlier in the week when the Miners beat Drury in the regular season finale, brings a 0.77 goals against average into Friday's game in 584 minutes of action.
S&T is led in scoring by
Eduardo Abichabki (Sao Jose do Rio Pardo, Brazil/Colegio Unigrau) with nine goals and three assists for 21 points; the nine goals are tied for second in the GLVC with Quincy's Taylor Reis. Andrade has seven goals and six assists for 20 points, good for fourth in the league, while
Ryan Lawhead (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) has a league-high nine assists.
The Hawks, currently the top-ranked team in the NCAA Division II Midwest region, have the second-best goals against average in the GLVC at 0.73 behind goalkeeper Logan Feldmann, who has a 0.64 goals against mark with 10 shutouts.
Rockhurst has allowed only 13 goals this season and just eight since giving up five in its season opener against Lindenwood, with only one tally allowed in its last five games. The Hawks blanked Southern Indiana 1-0 Sunday behind a Kaleb Jackson goal in the 31
st minute.
Jackson and Mitch Moncada place a balanced scoring attack for the Hawks (14-1-2, 13-1-1 GLVC) as nine different players have scored at least twice. Gianluca Bottoni has eight assists on the season, while Jackson has a team-high 19 points.
The Hawks are 9-0 at home this season and have won their last 10 home contests dating back to last year; they have a 14-game unbeaten streak at their home pitch. The Miners, however, did beat Rockhurst 1-0 late in the 2014 season.
S&T dropped their regular season decisions to the other two semifinalists, falling 2-1 to Quincy at home on Oct. 11 and 2-0 at Indianapolis on Oct. 23, the Miners' only loss this season by more than one goal.
