Box Score WINFIELD, Kan. – On a chilly Wednesday evening in Winfield, the Southwestern College men's soccer team played host to Sterling College for the Builders' Senior Night match. The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) tilt began in the favor of SC, as they tallied the opening goal of the match, but the Warriors responded with the final two salvos to defeat the Moundbuilders by a 2-1 final.
After the first shot of the match was taken by Sterling in the 11th minute, Southwestern countered by converting on their first shot in the bout in the 13th minute, as Hector Hernandez was led beautifully by a Jack Etheridge ball over the top of the last line of defense. Hernandez took full advantage, scoring the opening goal of the battle on the Builders' first shot.
About six minutes later, a corner kick from Trevor Avila found the head of Connor Inlow in front of the frame, but his header went off the bottom of the cross bar and back into play. Then, Etheridge headed the ball back toward the net, where it was saved by the Sterling keeper.
Southwestern would have a few more glorious chances in the opening half, but the Warriors were able to stave off those tries until the 43rd minute, when Sterling was able to earn a penalty. The Warrior striker was able to convert on the penalty kick with just under two minutes to play in the opening frame, knotting the score at 1-1 at the half.
Five of the Moundbuilders' nine shots in the second half occurred in the first 10 minutes of play, as they spread the remaining four out over the last 35 minutes. During that latter 35 minutes, Sterling was able to break the tie with their second goal of the match. In the 75th minute, a shot from the Warriors into the top-left corner of the net made it 2-1 with only 15 minutes left to play.
A free-kick shot from Mamadou Diarra in the 87th minute hit the cross bar, narrowly missing the equalizing goal for SC in the process. That would be the final shot for Southwestern in the match, as they fell short of the mark in the 2-1 loss.
Inlow took the most shots in the match, having blasted the ball toward the net six times. Just two of his six attempts were on frame. Etheridge and Diarra each shot the ball four times, as the former was the only one of the two to have shots on goal. Etheridge had two of his shots threaten the net. Hernandez took two shots, with his one shot on goal also reaching the twine.
Between the pipes, Jose Macias played a strong match, as he was the victim of a penalty-kick tally and a perfectly-placed shot into the top-left corner in the latter stages. He will look forward to Saturday's match at Tabor College, looking for his second win of the campaign in the team's final tilt.
Seniors, Gamaliel Gomez, Nicholas Longoria, Jose Reyes, Zane Brooks, and J. Macias were honored prior to the start of play on Wednesday, recognizing their contributions to the Builder men's soccer team over their tenures with the program.
As previously stated, Southwestern (4-7-5, 1-5-5 KCAC) will be playing their final match of the 2022 campaign on Saturday, October 29 in Hillsboro, Kan. against the Tabor College Bluejays. The matchup will have kick-off at 8 p.m., as the Moundbuilders look to end their campaign on a positive note with a hard-fought victory.
--buildersports.com--
