IRVINE, Calif. - Two of top defenses in the NAIA clashed in the quarterfinal round of the 2018 NAIA Men's Soccer National Tournament as the No. 3 seeded Central Methodist University Eagles faced Rocky Mountain College on Wednesday evening.
Rodrigo Paredes (SO/Asuncion, Paraguay) earned the game-winning goal after he popped a header over the goalie, assisted from the corner kick by Victor Luengo (FR/Alcorcon Madrid, Spain), to put the Eagles up 1-0 in the 23rd minute of play. Vince Gelei (JR/Dunakeszi, Hungary) gathered six saves in the box for the CMU, including an attempt in the final three seconds that would have sent the game into overtime. Gelei now has 13 shutouts on the season.
"That's a very good team that we played against," said Central Methodist Head Coach Alex Nichols. "They were a great team last year, and we knew they would be a great team this year, and they were. Our guys had to fight the entire game. I think we should have finished more opportunities in the first half but they had plenty of opportunities in the second half. We have to look back at that and make adjustments. We did a great job but there's always areas you can improve upon and it's never too late."
Central Methodist edged the Battlin' Bears in shots, 17-14, while placing nine on frame. Adrian Gutierrez (SR/Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) and Daniel Hernandez (FR/Bogota, Colombia) led the attack with three shot attempts each. Also notching shots on frame were Andrea De Simone, Victor Luengo, Fabio Tarnowski (JR/Avigliana, Italy), and Colin Horn (SO/Koenigsbach-Stein, Germany).
Up next, Central Methodist will face Madonna University (Mich.) in the semifinals on Friday evening. Game time is set for 8:30 pm Central/6:30 pm Pacific.
