KWU edges Mac on penalty kicks
Johnson's saves in shootout enable Coyotes to advance
By: Arne Green, Salina Journal

Wayne Johnson makes a save in the penalty kick shootout to give KWU the win over McPherson in the NAIA Region IV Tournament

Wayne Johnson wasn't about to get overly analytical.

His instincts were good enough.

“It's a 50-50 guess, it really is,” Johnson, Kansas Wesleyan's senior goalkeeper, said after his two key saves helped the Coyotes survive a penalty-kick shootout Tuesday night against McPherson. “You've got to go with your gut.”

Thanks to Johnson's reactions and strikes by Mario Briseno, Trey Thompson and Steven Gloria from the penalty spot, Wesleyan claimed a 3-2 first-round victory in the NAIA Region 4 tournament Tuesday night at Salina Stadium.

The two Kansas Conference rivals battled to a 2-2 draw through 110 minutes, including a pair of 10-minute overtimes, before Wesleyan prevailed 3-1 in the shootout.

“I love 'em,” Thompson said of the shootout rule. “I'd rather win in regulation, but (shootouts) make it more entertaining for everybody.”

With the victory, the Coyotes improved to 17-3 and will face Bellevue, Neb., in a regional semifinal Friday in Omaha, Neb. Sterling, a 4-3 winner over Friends on Tuesday, plays Park (Mo.) University in the other semifinal.

Wesleyan, which beat McPherson 3-1 in their only regular-season meeting, came back from a goal down in the second half to force overtime. The best chance to end it in overtime came when reserve forward Raphael Nzunga headed a cross from Thompson over the bar in the 107th minute.

That led to the shootout, where Johnson first denied John White with a diving stop to his right. McPherson keeper Michael Davis answered with a dive to his left on Abraham Moran to keep it scoreless.

Jose Rodriguez beat Johnson on the next try to give the Bulldogs the lead as he scored off Johnson's hands, but Briseno equalized for Wesleyan.

Johnson then guessed right again, laying out to his right to stop Deno Bell, setting up Thompson's go-ahead goal.

“This is something I've been doing ever since I was a kid,” Thompson, Wesleyan's leading scorer on the season, said of the penalty kicks. “It's what you dream about.”

“It's something I've been doing so long, it's just like brushing my teeth every day.”

Armando Rodriguez, who scored both McPherson goals in regulation, misfired over the bar on the Bulldogs' fourth attempt, leaving Gloria to finish it off.

“I felt pretty good about our chances in PKs,” Wesleyan coach Mike Dibbini said. “Nervous, but pretty confident.”

“Wayne is something special. That's why he's goalkeeper of the year (in the KCAC). He just saves penalty kicks.”

With the game tied 1-1 at the half, McPherson struck first in the second on a run down the left wing by Armando Rodriguez, who fired a cannon shot past Johnson into the top right corner in the 55th minute.

But seven minutes later, Brad Winton got it back for Wesleyan, with an assist from Trenton Corea.

“Trenton gave me a ball right there, I made a move to my right and saw the far post open,” said Winton, who had entered the game for the first time less than a minute earlier. “It was my first touch.”

“That got the whole team excited, I think. After that, we played a lot better.”

Thompson got Wesleyan on the board first in fourth minute when he took a ball from Moran behind McPherson's defense and placed it in the lower right corner. Armando Rodriguez tied it in the 24th when he took a cross from Rodrigo Adame at the top of the 18-yard box and volleyed it home.

“You've got to give McPherson a lot of credit for doing their homework,” Dibbini said. “We played through a lot of adversity.”

“We hadn't been in that situation much lately. It was a good win for us.”

For McPherson, which finished at 11-7-1, it was a difficult loss.

“It was just a great game,” McPherson coach Doug Quint said. “I thought we executed our game plan almost to perfection, we just had a couple of breakdowns.”

“That's a terrible way to end the game for either team. I really thought if we could have played another overtime, somebody would have scored.”

-- SJ --