UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich.- The Saginaw Valley State men's soccer team tied Roosevelt in the GLIAC Tournament Semifinals on Friday, 1-1. Because this was a tournament game, the Cardinals (9-1-7, 7-1-4 GLIAC) and Lakers (7-4-7, 4-4-4 GLIAC) went to overtime and then to a shootout, where RU advanced to the championship on PKs, 4-3.
Both defenses were stout early in the first half, not allowing a shot until the 18th minute. Amadou Kouyate (Ann Arbor, Mich., Community HS) was the first to fire a shot. In the 20th minute, Jo Bédard (Québec City, Canada, St. Andrew's School) took a shot that was deflected, resulting in a corner kick. Adrian Hatman (Hîncesti, Moldova, Lucian Blaga) got a touch off of the set piece, sending the ball to the top of the box where Oleksiy Kharko (Mississauga, Ontario, Philip Pocock Secondary Catholic School) scored his first goal of the season. Roosevelt tied the game in the 42nd minute. There would only be one more shot before halftime, and the teams entered the locker rooms in a 1-1 tie.
In the second half, Nick Kay (Walled Lake, Mich., Walled Lake Central HS) put on a show. He made his first save of the half in the 48th minute. The Cardinals had their best opportunity of the second half on a shot from Bédard that hit the crossbar in the 62nd minute. Kouyate and Kharko forced two saves in the following two minutes. On the other end, Kay made another save in the 69th minute. SVSU took four more shots before the end of regulation, including one by Kouyate on goal. Kay ended the half with five saves.
In overtime, Kay added another save. The Cardinals managed to take five shots, but were not able to put any on goal. The game went to a shootout after the two teams remained tied 1-1 through 110 minutes. Hatman, Josh Izu (Lagos, Nigeria), and Gabo Vazquez (San Juan, Puerto Rico, DME Academy) all connected on PKs. Kay saved one, but Roosevelt advanced, taking the shootout 4-3.
Kouyate led the team in shots with four while him and Kharko each had three shots on goal. Kay finished the match with seven saves. SVSU outshot the Lakers 19-18, but Roosevelt held the advantage in shots on goal, 8-5. There were 27 fouls called: 14 on the Lakers and 13 on the Cardinals. SVSU was shown one yellow card while RU was shown two.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley State will now await the NCAA DII Men's Soccer Championship selection show to see where and who they will be playing in the NCAA Tournament.
