ALABAMY BOUND: OKWU Eagles become Lyon tamers to earn soccer nationals berth in Decatur
Lyon (Ark.) College men’s soccer players had nothing about which to hang their heads about — and the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagle kickers had every reason to exult on Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles survived a grueling challenge against visiting Lyon to win, 1-0 — on Ognjen Stevic’s first goal in 22 matches — in their NAIA regional final played in Bartlesville.
Next up, the Eagles migrate to Decatur, Ala., the finals site of the NAIA national tourney.
They are one of 10 regional winners that will be vying for the national championship.
Lyon players, meanwhile, return back to their campus knowing they pushed the No. 2 team in the nation — and a strong favorite to play for the NAIA title — to the limit.
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The Eagles (21-2-0) scored in the final five minutes of the first half — on Stevic’s goal, off an assist from Luka Pekovic, — and held on the tips of their talons to win.
Pekovic notched just his second assist of the season.
Ognjen proved to be the focal point of the attack, launching three of OKWU’s shots on goal.
Julio Belo, Victor Crisipm, Jorge Velasco and Lucas Mauro each attempted one shot on goal.
The major heroes of the win were goalie Matija Gligorovic and his defense.
Gligorovic made two saves and the team was credited with three other saves to repel Lyon’s total of five shots on goal.
Home has been sweet for the Eagles. They improved to 10-1 on their Bartlesville field, located on Silver Lake Road.
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Since mid-September, the Eagles have blitzed to a 19-1 record overall.
This was their eighth one-goal victory.
OKWU finished as the national runner-up last season, losing to Missouri Valley, 2-0, in the final.
In addition to OKWU, other qualifiers in this year’s Terrific Ten bound for Decatur
include Columbia (Mo.) (13-2-3), MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (13–61), Central Methodist (Mo.) (21-0-0), Marymount California (15-6-1), Indiana Tech (18-1-3), Missouri Valley (17-5-0), Ottawa (Ariz.) (13-4-1), Mobile (Ala.) (17-2-0), and Keiser (Fla.) (13-3-1).
This list includes a couple of major surprises.
Marymount went into the Costa Mesa (Calif.) Regional as the regional’s No. 4 seed, but knocked off No.-1 seeded Mid-America Christian, 3-2, and No. 2 Vanguard (Calif.), 2-1 (2ot).
Ottawa was the No. 3 seed in the Miami Gardens (Fla.) Regional, but sent No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett packing, 1-0, and beat No. 1 seed St. Thomas (Fla.), 3-2 (ot).
The national single-elimination tourney is set to open Nov. 30 with two play-in games to reduce the field to eight teams.
The Elite Eight matches are slated for Dec. 2, the Final Four action on Dec. 4, and the national championship match on Dec. 6.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Men's soccer: Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagles capture regional title, 1-0
