Men’s Soccer advances to regional semifinals with 3-1 win over McPherson
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Kansas Wesleyan scored three first half goals and made them stand up as the Coyotes defeated McPherson (Kan.) 3-1 on Monday night at Salina Stadium.

The Coyotes (13-4-2) nearly had a shutout, but McPherson’s Trenton Bell scored with six seconds remaining in the match. KWU’s Ruben Flores missed a sliding attempt to punch the ball out of bounds on a cross to Bell, and he was able to flick the ball in for the score.

The first KWU goal came in the 15th minute when Miguel Wenceslao took a pass from Rashaun Thompson at the top left corner of the six-yard box and shot a rocket past Michael Davis for the score.

The Coyotes had several more chances before finding paydirt again in the 29th minute. Jose Garay took a chip pass from Wenceslao and shot it past Davis for the score.

Wesleyan’s third goal came just six minutes later when Juan Mundo bent home a free kick from 30-yards out. From just inside the football field numbers on the near side of the field, Mundo sent the ball into the goal area and it turned just inside the far post for the score.

McPherson (11-6-3) had a great chance to score just before the half, when Eduardo Rodriguez would take a free kick from deep on the right side, but his cross into the middle was high and sailed out of bounds.

Wesleyan would take the 3-0 lead into the half.

The Coyotes would play the ball in the middle of the field for a majority of the second half. Wesleyan had a chance right at the beginning of the half for a score when a cross from Mario Rodriguez to Garay would just miss its mark.

Wesleyan would have another golden opportunity in the 65th minute when Jimi Gleason’s shot off a pass from Garay would go just wide.

McPherson would answer in the 69th minute when KWU keeper Robert Carillo would come off the line to defend the ball, leaving the goal open. Rodriguez would make a great play on the ball poking it out of bounds allowing the KWU defense to reset.

Just five minutes later Wesleyan had another chance to score when Gleason’s shot would hit the crossbar and his rebound would go high.

Davis would see an early exit to the match when he was issued a red card with 5:13 remaining in the half after knocking Eric Garcia down on a play for the ball outside of the box.

Senior Jonathan Varca would have a chance to make it 4-0 Wesleyan with a minute left but his shot to a wide open net would go high. The Coyotes would then give up the shutout with six seconds remaining on the play by Bell.

Gleason and Garay led Wesleyan with four shots each, while five other Coyotes each had a pair. Carillo went the distance in goal, giving up the late goal and tallying five saves.

Calin Strong led McPherson with five shots, while Jose Reyes had three and Bell two for the Bulldogs. Davis gave up three goals and had no saves in nearly 85 minutes in goal for McPherson, before leaving with the red card. John Godfrey played out the final 5:13 in goal and recorded three saves.

The Coyotes advance on to the regional semifinals on Wednesday against Bellevue (Neb.) at 2 p.m. at Julian Field on the campus of Park (Mo.) University in Parkville, Mo. In one previous meeting this season, Wesleyan and Bellevue played to a 3-3 tie at Martin Stadium on September 22.

-- KWU SI --