Maryville men’s soccer team captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship by beating second-seeded Bellarmine.
Maryville men’s soccer team captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship by beating second-seeded Bellarmine.
The Maryville men’s soccer team captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship title, earning an automatic berth into the 2018 NCAA Division II Soccer Championships. This marks the program’s second consecutive bid to the tournament.
“Winning was unreal,” said sophomore midfielder J.D. Sohn. “There were so many mixed emotions. We had seniors crying. We had freshmen jumping up in the air. It was just awesome.”
The team celebrated its win alongside many Maryville alumni, some of whom started the soccer program in the 1970s. “There are many players and coaches from throughout the years who played a hand in getting to this point, and it was fun to celebrate with them,” said head coach David Korn. “But I’m most proud of our current players and coaches. It’s been an honor to see them grow and mature, and this title is a testament to the quality of work they put in throughout the year.”
The Saints won a shootout victory over Bellarmine to claim the title. The two teams were locked into a defensive struggle for the first 38 minutes of the game. The Knights had a few opportunities to score, but Christian Kjaersgaard made a pair of outstanding saves to keep the game scoreless. Ricardo Andrade put Maryville in the lead in the 38th minute as he took a touch from Zulfikar Karimi and scored from 10 yards out to put the Saints on top 1-0.
Bellarmine evened the match in the 43rd minute with a goal that sent the teams to the locker room deadlocked at 1-1. The Knights took the lead in the 57th minute, but Maryville answered just 16 seconds later. J.D. Sohn grabbed a long pass from Dom Riggio and slotted a shot past the Bellarmine keeper into the right side of the goal to tie the score 2-2.
The game turned back into a defensive battle as the teams went to a shootout with the score tied at 2-2. Gavino Carranza opened the shootout with a goal while Kjaersgaard stopped the Knights first attempt. After both teams missed their second attempts, Mirza Hasecic and Diego Coy found the net to give the Saints a 3-2 advantage. Karimi sent Maryville home a winner as he put his kick into the upper right corner of the goal to give the Saints their first conference title.