Box Score WINFIELD, Kan. – The Southwestern College men's soccer team hosted Wednesday night's tilt at Richard L. Jantz Stadium and earned a hard-fought Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) 2-2 draw against the visiting Bulldogs of McPherson College. It was an electric atmosphere against the Bulldogs, where no team was able to take the three points at the end of 90 minutes.
The first half started in favor of the Bulldogs when Saul Munoz scored the first goal of the game in the 4th minute, via an assist by Gabe Porras. The Builders were caught watching the play and McPherson reacted quickly to go up 1-0. Only a few minutes later, in the 7th minute of the game, McPherson College again jumped at an opportunity and scored the second goal of night. Samuel Box scored off of a Builder mistake to improve the MC lead to 2-0.
It seemed like the Builders were still asleep and had to be awoken by the Bulldogs, which luckily did occur. Those two early goals seemed like a wake-up call for the Builders. Southwestern put on more pressure, showed more aggression and was more dangerous in front of the goal as time elapsed. It did not take much longer until Malvin Mupondi scored in the 12th minute on an assist by Hector Hernandez, which started the comeback for the Builders. Hernandez delivered a great pass in front of the racing strides of Mupondi, who gathered the ball and blasted it into the top right corner of the frame.
Southwestern continued to pour on the pressure offensively with shots by Coby Stroud and Mamadou Diarra in the minutes to follow. In the 29th minute of the game, Hector Hernandez dribbled into the box and was taken down by a Bulldog defender which led to a penalty kick for the Builders. Hernandez walked up to take the penalty kick for the Builders, but it was saved by goalkeeper Colby Swift. The Moundbuilders continued to attack, though disappointed by the missed penalty, and were able to equalize the game in the 33rd minute of play. Connor Inlow headed home the second goal of the match for the Builders on a masterful corner kick by Hernandez.
Both teams had chances to win the game in the second half, as this one was full of action, but ultimately neither team could take home the three points. The game ended in a draw where the Builders outshot the Bulldogs by a 16-14 margin. Mupondi led the Builders in shots with four shots, where two of them were on goal. Hernandez led the team in assist with two.
Jose Macias was credited with a draw on his season record, as he spent the majority of the match in net before exiting with an upper-body ailment in the latter stages.
The Builders (3-5-4, 0-3-4 KCAC) are now preparing to play their next game on Saturday, October 15, where they will travel to Bartlesville, Okla. to face the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles at 8 p.m. The Builders are still hoping to earn their first victory in this year's KCAC slate.
--buildersports.com--
