Indiana Tech's Historic Season Comes to a Close in NAIA Quarterfinals
Photo Credit: Jack Koshko (Indiana Tech Sports Information)
WICHITA, Kan. - Indiana Tech Men's Soccer's historic season came to a heartbreaking close on Thursday afternoon on a rainy pitch in Kansas as penalty kicks went the way of #7 Oklahoma Wesleyan. The Warriors and Eagles were tied 0-0 after regulation and two overtimes so it went to penalty kicks to decide who would advance to the semifinals. Oklahoma Wesleyan was fresh off a PK win just 48 hours ago and used that experience to their advantage to win 4-2.
FINAL SCORE
No. 7 Oklahoma Wesleyan (17-1-5) ties Indiana Tech (14-4-6), 0-0 advances 4-2 in shootout | Box Score
· Oklahoma Wesleyan advances to face the winner of No. 6 Bethel (Ind.) and No. 14 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. CST
· Indiana Tech has been eliminated from championship play
GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS
· Entering the game, Oklahoma Wesleyan was looking to reach the Semifinals for the third time in program history; they lost in the 2020 final to Missouri Valley and was eliminated in the semis in 2017
· The Warriors were riding the best postseason performance in team history as Indiana Tech had never won a final site game before this season
· The misty precipitation that was present for the first two Quarterfinal matches turned into a steady rain, but the synthetic turf at Scheels Stryker Soccer Complex performed fantastic
· Nearing the end of the first 45 minutes of play, the NAIA's all-time leading scorer Stefan Cvetanovic's shot hit the crossbar – the best of either side's action
· Indiana Tech's Nicola Brocca drove the ball from the left wing, in the 78th minute, but was blocked by the OKWU defense to preserve the 0-0 score
· Heading into overtime, the Eagles led 12-5 in shots taken and 6-1 in shots on goal; both teams tallied three corner kicks attempted
· This contest was the fourth of the Final Site to head to overtime, tying the most in NAIA history (2017)
· The first OT period did not generate any shots or corner kicks by either club; Pol Mur's attempt at 103:13 for OKWU was blocked, but was the only shot attempt in the first 18 minutes of overtime
· Inside two minutes, the Warriors had a shot attempt by Luke Jones blocked and then three corner kicks to try and end the game in regulation
· In total, the Eagles outshot IT by a 13-6 count but Indiana tech held a 7-3 edge in corners taken
· Matheus Ulrich and Luis Vergara tied for a game high three shot attempts while Tech was led by Aaron Asamoah with two
· OKWU headed to a penalty kick shootout for the second time just over 48 hours
· Indiana Tech's first attempt by Lucca Motta was blocked by OKWU keeper Oliver Scott
· The Warriors, down 3-2, had their fourth attempt bounce off the right post setting the table for Oklahoma Wesleyan's Uros Aleksijevic to sink his kick