FULTON, Mo.--- After defeating Mid-Continent University on Saturday 2-0 in the American Midwest Conference quarterfinals, the No. 4 seeded William Woods men's soccer team will pay a visit to No. 1 seed Park University on Tuesday in the semifinals. Kick-off will start at 1:00 p.m.
The Owls (11-8; 6-4 AMC), earned the shutout victory with
Robertt Butvin in net making three saves and picking up his fifth win on the season. The team jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 31
st minute, as a free kick by
Kyle Konigsberg found the foot of a cutting
Alex Severino toward the net, who put the ball into the back of the net past Cougar goalie Adam Lewis.
In the second half, the team extended its lead to 2-0 at the 54:12 mark, as a lead pass from
Marcelo Carreiro found the foot of
Joao Paulo Parra, and he was able to use his speed to get behind the Cougars defense and score his seventh goal on the season. The Owls were outshot 15-13 in the game, but made their shots on net count when they took them.
History was made on Parra's goal, as Carreiro's assist gave him 105 career points as an Owl, making him the men's soccer all-time leader in points, passing the original mark of 104 held by John Hayes since 2004.
Waiting for the Owls in the semifinals, is regular season AMC champion Park University (10-5; 8-2 AMC). This will be the first game in the playoffs for the Pirates, who earned a first round bye after winning the AMC outright.
The Pirates and Owls met back on October 23
rd, with Park defeating the team 2-1 in a double overtime thriller. WWU grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 31
st minute, as Parra received a pass from
Sebastian Burich and he dribbled his way around the goaltender in the 18 yard box and buried his shot into the back of the net.
The Pirates, however, tied the game in the 62
nd minute, as Andre D'Elia scored his then second goal on the season and that would be all the scoring through regulation, so it was off to overtime.
Neither team could break the tie in the first OT, and as time ticked away in the second OT, the scoring chances for both team's picked up. In the 105
th minute, WWU had had a corner kick and Parra's cross into the box found the head of
Brett Hodges who headed the ball just over the crossbar ending the scoring threat.
Then, .59 seconds later, Park's free kick from midfield got into the box, but was cleared away by an Owls player, however, the clearing found the foot of Kiel Williams whose shot went off an Owls defender and then the ball rolled its way into the back of the net for the game winning goal.
The winner of this high profiled game will advance onto the AMC Championship, where the winner will face either No. 2 seed Columbia College or No. 3 seed Hannibal-LaGrange.
Fans should stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow for a full recap and score from this game.
