Tigers win on penalty kicks, advance to the semifinals of the national tourney

Playing an elimination game in frigid conditions, the fourth-seed Cowley College men's soccer team and fifth-seed Arizona Western needed double overtime and eventually a shootout to decide a winner on Tuesday night in the NJCAA Division I Men's Soccer National Championships played at the SCHEELS Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, KS. Tiger freshman Inaki Lambarri's goal in the seventh and final shot of the penalty kicks sent Cowley players storming the field in celebration.

With the win, Cowley advances out of Pool B to the semifinals of the national championships, to be played Thursday at 5:30 p.m. against sixth-seed Eastern Florida State, which is 16-2-2 on the season.

Cowley (16-1-3) has not lost since a 2-1 defeat against Indian Hills on September 25. Arizona Western finishes the season with a record of (15-2-2).

The first half of Tuesday's game was evenly played, with both teams finding shots on goal hard to come by before the Matadors were whistled for a foul in the box. Cowley sophomore Andre Ecker scored on the ensuing penalty kick to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead with 4:49 left in the opening half.

Cowley would take the 1-0 lead into halftime.

However, the Tigers' lead would be short-lived as Arizona Western's Giulio Mapessa headed in a corner kick to tie the game at 1-1 only two minutes and 40 seconds into the second half.

Neither team would score again in regulation as the game was sent to overtime. After a scoreless 10-minute overtime, the teams would play a second 10-minute overtime, and neither team could break the tie.

The contest would then be decided in a shootout, with each team picking five players to attempt a penalty kick. After five shots, both teams had scored on four of five attempts. Both teams would again score on their sixth attempt, and after a save by Tiger goalkeeper Kamy Ndione on the seventh shot attempt for the Matadors, Lambarri was selected to take the potential game-winning kick for Cowley.

Lambarri, who had not scored a goal on the season, calmly stepped up for the penalty kick and drilled the game-winner into the corner of the goal.

"It's not always the best team that wins. It's the team that is the most resilient," Cowley head coach Ruy Vaz said.

With a win on Thursday, Cowley would advance to its first-ever national title game appearance. The national championship game will be played Saturday at 4 p.m.

"We have to regroup and get ready for the next one," Vaz said.