ROLLA, Mo. – For the second time in less than a year,
Eduardo Abichabki (Sao Jose do Rio Pardo, Brazil/Colegio Unigrau) delivered the shot that provided Missouri S&T's men's soccer team a victory over McKendree.
Last October, Abichabki broke a scoreless tie with under two minutes left in regulation time to give S&T a win over the Bearcats. On Sunday, Abichabki struck down the Bearcats again with a late goal, putting home a direct free kick with 4:20 to play as the Miners came away with a
2-1 Great Lakes Valley Conference win at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.
After the Miners missed a golden chance to take the lead six minutes earlier when
Felipe Andrade (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and
David Murphy (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) each hit the goal post with a shot just seconds apart, S&T got another chance when
Matt Kilwin (St. Louis, Mo./Chaminade College Prep) was taken down just outside the box.
Abichabki hit the free kick just inside the right post to put S&T in front, then the Miners withstood a late flurry in front of its own goal – similar to the scenario in which the Bearcats scored their goal earlier in the half – to hold on for their fourth win in their last five outings.
Despite outshooting McKendree 10-1 in the first half, the Miners were in a scoreless game at the intermission. However, just over five minutes into the second half, S&T broke the ice when
Martin Klevjer (Trondheim, Norway) got a long crossing pass from
Ryan Lawhead (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) and beat Bearcat goalkeeper Scott Armistead to the far post to put the Miners in the lead.
The Miners held off a sequence of three shots in a crowd in front of their own net in the 62
nd minute to hold onto the lead, but McKendree tied the game with just over 20 minutes to go when Callum Kiddell knocked in a rebound of Andrew Ducharme's shot.
S&T had the two shots go off the post in the 80
th minute prior to the free kick opportunity that Abichabki converted.
The Miners outshot the Bearcats 17-8 for the game, as
Nick Posey (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) collected two saves in goal for S&T.
Missouri S&T (4-4, 4-2 GLVC) returns to action Friday when it faces Maryville in a 1:30 p.m. contest in St. Louis.
