BELTON, Texas – After 90 minutes of regulation and two additional overtime periods, the Concordia Texas men's soccer team found themselves in a 1-1 tie, but with a 4-3 win in a penalty kick shootout they outlasted Hardin-Simmons and took home the program's first ASC Championship on Sunday.
After three straight trips to the ASC Championship match, the Tornados captured the first championship in program history with a thrilling win.
Fifth-year head coach
Nick Mims was proud to see the product of years of hard work from everyone in the men's soccer program come together as an ASC Championship.
"This ASC Championship is a testament to the huge strides this program has taken over the last several years," Mims said. "The former players and coaches laid the foundation that this team was able to use to build a championship. Today was a culmination of all of that work and I couldn't be more proud."
The match was a hard-fought contest throughout, requiring 110 minutes and a penalty shootout to decide the winner. Coach Mims felt his players, who played hard from the opening kickoff to the final whistle, earned the conference championship with their fortitude throughout the match.
"Our boys truly earned the championship game," Mims said. "Hardin-Simmons is a tough team that makes it very difficult for us to play our game. The boys battled back and got the well-deserved equalizer. Players stepped up all over the field to bring home the championship."
The match saw only two goals during regulation, ending in a 1-1 tie after
Melvin Molina netted the equalizer in the 66th minute, and was decided in shootout fashion at the end.
In the first half, the Tornados fired six shots, including two on-goal from
Antonio Rios and
Richard Aguirre, but were unable to come away with a goal.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys netted the first goal of the game, and CTX found themselves in a 1-0 hole at halftime.
The Tornados came out firing in the second half, as Molina and Rios each fired two shots in the opening four minutes, applying pressure to the HSU back line that eventually resulted in the equalizer. In the 66th minute, Molina knocked in the goal that evened the score, and the CTX defense held firm, forcing overtime with a 1-1 tie after 90 minutes of regulation.
The first overtime was a stalemate, HSU recording the only shot, and the Tornados moved on to the second overtime period with the match remaining in a 1-1 tie.
Marco Vazquez fired a pair of shots in the second overtime period, but neither team was able to break the tie, and after two extra periods, the two teams headed to a decisive penalty shootout.
HSU began the shootout with a make, and Vazquez answered with one of his own, making it 1-1 after each team's first attempt.
The second attempt yielded the same result, as Aguirre followed an HSU make with his own, leaving the shootout score at 2-2.
On the third attempt,
Arlen Oni defended the goal and forced a miss from the Cowboys, to which Molina followed with a goal, giving CTX a 3-2 lead in the shootout.
The next attempt resulted in a make for each team, but
Victor Gomez's shot brought the lead to 4-3, setting up a chance for the Tornados to win the shootout.
On the next HSU attempt, Oni showed his prowess in the goal once again, getting a hand on the shot and coming away with a championship-winning save as the Tornados won the penalty shootout by a score of 4-3.
After the ensuing celebration, the conference honored four Tornados as members of the All-ASC Tournament team.
Zack Kusak, Molina, and Gomez earned a spot on the list, while Vazquez was named the ASC Tournament MVP.
Along with their first ASC Championship, Concordia Texas has earned an NCAA regional berth for the first time in program history. With the opening round beginning on Saturday, the Tornados will await their destination as will be announced on the selection show, airing on the NCAA website on Monday at 12:30 pm.
