Championship Bracket (PDF)
DAYTON, Ohio – A progressively chilly Thursday night eventually revealed the two finalists for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Championship as the second round unfolded.
The men’s semifinal contests took center stage after the conclusion of the women’s matchups on a neutral turf surface at Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School. And what transpired very few might have predicted going into the semifinals.
Similar to the women’s bracket, the men also began the night with the top final four seeds intact in the playoffs. What made the cold weather tolerable was minimal winds as temperatures dipped into the 20’s by the final contest of the day.
But at the end of the day, it was the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds standing alone after pulling respective upsets.
No. 3 Cedarville was the first program to punch its ticket to the Great Midwest Championship game, defeating No. 2 seed Ohio Valley, 3-0. The Yellow Jackets broke things open relatively early as first team all-conference forward Sammy Kilimann finished off a PK following a beautiful run down the side by Levi Haight.
Cedarville kept its foot on the accelerator taking advantage of an 11 vs. 8 situation following multiple red cards by OVU, last year’s Midwest Region champs.
Pedro Alvares, another all-conference standout, found some open space and made a nice 1-on-1 move to avoid the keeper and use his left foot to give the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 lead.
Very shortly after, it was Mauricio Ochoa Vasquez, who took advantage of over pursuit around midfield and he slotted in a long shot that rolled on the turf to the net for a commanding three-goal advantage.
Lake Erie and Tiffin played under a full moon to finish out the night. Having already played each other twice during the regular season, the third time turned out to be the charm for the fourth-seeded Dragons.
TU had been on the short end of two different matchups during the year by one-goal differentials, but persistence paid off midway through the second half.
Lake Erie all-conference keeper Tom John somehow deflected a header at the last moment by Eduardo Carvalho with about 28 minutes left in the second half following a full sprint down the sideline by Leo Hasenstab.
It was just that brief momentary lapse that Tiffin capitalized on as the ball ricocheted in the box on the ensuing possession and Caleb Gibbons unleashed a shot that John couldn’t even react to.
But in the 74th minute, the newly-minted Great Midwest Offensive Player of the Year did what an offensive player of the year should do. Senior midfielder Jonathon Carr blasted a shot that bounced once off the turf and skipped to the net to make things even at 1-1.
After tussling in the first overtime, Tiffin had made gains down in their attacking zone. After pinballing around the box, Hasenstab chopped a shot on the turf that found the bottom right corner of the net and sent his teammates into a wild celebration.
Cedarville and Tiffin will play for an NCAA Championship automatic qualifying bid on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Lake Erie has been the top-ranked team in Super Region 3 for three consecutive weeks. Ohio Valley has also been firm at the No. 3 slot while there has been a little more movement with Cedarville and No. 6 and Tiffin at No. 7.
Both Cedarville and Tiffin moved up one spot each from the previous Super Region 3 rankings.