The first round of the NAIA National Tournament was contested today at host sites around the country. It was a battle of the Pioneers as the Wayland Baptist University Pioneers came into to town to face off against MNU. The MNU Pioneers were victorious with a final score of 2-1 and they will move on to the Round of 16 which will be played in Delray Beach, Florida.
Both teams came into the match with great season resumes. The matchup on paper looked to be very even and the game would play out that way. MNU got off to a good start in the match. In just the fourth minute they took advantage of a miscommunication in the back by WBU and
Frantzly Zephirin made sure he made them pay. He scored an unassisted goal; the first of the season for the Heart of America Defensive Player of the Year. Wayland Baptist responded well to going down in the match. Their aggressive style of play and hard work began to pay off and they began to create opportunities in the MNU end. In the 20th minute they leveled the game off of a set piece service from Taval Whittaker. Ross Brown won the header and played the ball across the face of the goal. James Quinn then headed the ball into the upper corner for the equalizer. Neither team created anymore good chances after this and halftime arrived with the score 1-1.
The second half was a different game. MNU did a much better job of controlling play. This extended pressure began to pay dividends as WBU's foul count began to add up. Wayland's best chances were coming on counter attacks and set pieces. In the 62nd minute, MNU's
Yann Passet was forced to make a fantastic save to keep the game level after Ezequiel Amestoy powered a header on frame. Just 5 minutes later, a WBU defender was given his second yellow card of the game and was dismissed. With the man advantage, MNU began to step up the pressure. As the half wore on it appeared as if the game may be headed to overtime. With just 42 seconds left all of that changed when
Eduardo Heringer played an incredible ball over the top of the defense where
Dominic Harrington was making a run. As the Wayland goalkeeper came off of his line, Harrington was able to get to the ball first. He lifted his shot over the keeper and it settled into the goal. MNU saw out the final seconds and for the fifth year in a row they advance to the Round of 16.
For the game, MNU outshot WBU 6-5 with shots on goal being 4-4. Joao Souza had 2 saves in the match. Passet had 3 saves for MNU. Wayland Baptist ends their season with a 14-4-3 record. MNU is now 16-3-1. They advance to take on West Virginia University Tech after their opening round win over Olivet Nazarene University. Keep up with the National Tournament here on
www.mnusports.com or through the NAIA site at
http://www.naia.org//SportSelect.dbml?&&DB_OEM_ID=27900&SPID=100398&SPSID=646079
Â
