Cowley men’s soccer team defeats Murray State 3-1 in national tourney opener
Getting goals from three players, the No. 3-seed Cowley College men’s soccer team never trailed in a 3-1 win over No. 10-seed Murray State College (OK) on Sunday in the First Round of the NJCAA Division I National Championships held in Daytona Beach, FL.
Cowley, winners of six games in a row, improves to 15-1-1 overall. Murray State College is now 12-3-3.
The Tigers dominated the opening half, outshooting the Aggies 17-0. However, Cowley was able to score just one goal when Shuto Sasaki scored off an assist from Yushin Nakano midway through the first half. Sasaki's goal was his second of the season.
"It was important to start strong; the first game is always difficult, but the boys started with the right attitude, and we controlled the entire game," Cowley head coach Marcos Ribeiro said.
The scoring came fast and furious to start the second half as Cowley sophomore Renan Syrio scored only two minutes after halftime to increase the Tigers' lead to 2-0. Kanta Ishii assisted on the 11th goal of the season by Syrio.
The Aggies would not go away easily, answering with a goal by M. Andrade Gomes just over one minute later, as Cowley's lead was cut to 2-1.
The score would remain that way until Leonardo Leitao capped the win by scoring off an assist from Nino Inchico with 15 minutes remaining. Leitao is third on the team with seven goals scored.
"We could have been more clinical in finishing our chances; we created many opportunities and just weren't precise enough to close out the game sooner," Ribeiro said.
Cowley outshot Murray State 29-12. Tiger goalkeeper Lukas Lowry stopped four of the five shots he faced on goal.
The Tigers will face No. 6-seed Eastern Florida State College on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. (CST) with the hopes of advancing to Thursday's semifinals at noon (CST). The Titans are 11-3-1 on the season.
"Now is the time to recover and prepare for a tough Eastern Florida State College team," Ribeiro said.