Orange Beach, Ala. - The Warner Pacific Men's Soccer team saw their season end in one of the toughest ways imaginable losing to the University of the Cumberlands in penalty kicks 4-1.
If you're a fan of defensive matchups, this game was one for the books as it ended scoreless despite active shooting from Cumberlands going into both overtimes. Warner Pacific generated only two total shots which were both on goal coming from Kevil Marin-Mendez and Bryan Carmona. The WarnerPac attack struggled to break through Cumberlands' defensive lines, resulting in limited chances throughout the match.
The Patriots controlled the tempo offensively, outshooting Warner Pacific 13-2 and putting five shots on frame. Mario Fernandez was the leader of their attack, recording seven shots and three on target. Supporting efforts from Bruno Garcia and Tjerk Meijs added to Cumberlands' threat, but despite this pressure, Warner Pacific's defense held firm and their goalkeeper, Owen Purvis, kept the match scoreless with his five saves
This match was definitely a chippy one with both teams having multiple yellow cards as the match went on. Warner Pacific saw cautions issued to Jose Robles, Wicho Gonzalez, Elliot McClafferty, and Linden Maurer, while Cumberlands' Ja-Son Whyte, Bruno Marques, Adrian Choco, and Luca Piazza also entered the referee's book after all the pushing, shoving, and brawling ended. Ultimately, despite Cumberlands' attacking advantage and heated match-up, neither side found a breakthrough, resulting in a 0-0 finish
It would come down to the dreaded penalty kick situation in which the Patriots thrive in having won their last three going back to the 2024 season. On this day, the Patriots didn't see their streak end, knocking in all four of their attempts on goal and stopping the Knights two out of their three attempts to walk out victorious. The Patriots will now march on to the semifinals of the NAIA Tournament while the Knights start packing for the long journey from Orange Beach, Alabama back to Portland, Oregon.
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The Knights finished the season with an overall record of 16-4-4 with a conference record of 7-3-2.