On Friday night April 9th, the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles, the #2 ranked team in the country, played host to 1 of 4 KCAC quarterfinal matches. The Eagles home field advantage would be affected due to weather and ended up hosting this home match at Tulsa's Titan Sports and Performance Center. The Eagles, who recieved the #1 seed would take on the #8 seeded Bethel College Threshers. In the prior meeting between the two teams the Eagles defeated the Threshers by a score of 6-0.
On Friday night, amid the weather and delays the 2 teams would eventually find a break in the weather to begin play. OKWU would have the lucky draw as they would have the gusting Oklahoma winds at their backs for this half. The Eagles would strike early as the first goal came in the 5th minute of the game from Pol Mur. This would be the lone goal in the half until the Eagles' Matheus Ferreira in the 37th minute of the match. Heading into the half the Eagles would hold a 2-0 lead, out shooting the Threshers 12-0 (8-0 SOG).
Coming out of halftime, the Eagles would now have the wind in their face. This wind seemed to effect the Thershers in the first half, however, the Eagles took the challenge head on. The Eagles would extend their lead over the Threshers in the 65th minute. This goal would come from Luka Lukic after a beautiful pass from Ognjen Stevic. The Threshers would not be shutout however, thanks to a goal from Louis Etienne that would make the score 3-1. The scoring would not be done just yet as in the 89th minute OKWU would have a opportunity to tack on one more thanks to a penalty kick. The Eagles' Julio Belo would be the one to cash in and extend the lead to 4-1.
Overall, the Eagles outshot the Threshers 18-3 (SOG 12-3) and had more corner opportunities 13-2. Defensively, OKWU's keeper Alex Vidizzoni would have 1 save and 1 goal allowed, whereas his counterpart, Colton Rothwell, would have 8 saves and 4 goals allowed for the Threshers.
The #1 seeded Eagles will take on the #4 seeded Friends University Falcons. This KCAC tournament semifinal match will take place on Wednesday, April 17th at Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, KS. The matchup is scheduled to start at 4:00pm
