Defending national champs outlast Cowley in a shootout

Playing in its fifth national tournament in the past six years, the No. 9-seeded Cowley College men's soccer team gave defending national champion and fourth-seed Monroe College (NY) all they could handle in a 3-2 double overtime loss in the opening game of the NJCAA Division I National Championships held Sunday at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, KS.

After both teams were tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, the squads played a pair of scoreless overtime sessions to force a shootout. The Mustangs would score on all four of its shots in the shootout, and the Tigers made only two of four shot attempts as Monroe pulled out the win.

Cowley falls to 15-5 on the season, while Monroe College improves to 12-2-1.

Cowley will face fifth-seed Angelina College (13-0-2) on Monday at 5:30 p.m. with a chance to advance to the semifinals. The Tigers will need a win and some help in order to advance.

Midway through the opening half of Sunday's contest, Monroe demonstrated the depth of its squad by substituting in an entirely new lineup minus a change in goal. However, Cowley was the aggressor and controlled the remainder of the scoreless first half.

Cowley placed six shots on goal in the opening half, while Monroe managed only one shot on goal.

A miscue in the Tigers' back half of the field resulted in an own goal scored against Cowley as Monroe struck first with 29:26 left to play.

Sensing the urgency, the Tigers increased their intensity, hoping to tie the game. Cowley would get the game-tying goal when Thiago Apolinario scored off an assist from Sota Nakazono with 21:17 left to play. The goal for Apolinario was his 10^th of the season.

However, the celebration did not last long as the Mustangs got a goal from Taisei Lida only 29 seconds later to go back in front 2-1.

The second half had several stoppages of play as it was hard for either team to get into a rhythm due to numerous players cramping up or experiencing injuries.

But, once again, Cowley had an answer as Adriano Melo scored off a well-executed corner kick with just under 14 minutes remaining in regulation. The goal for Melo was his sixth of the season.

Neither team would score over the final 14 minutes, and the teams would remain deadlocked until the Mustangs prevailed in the shootout.