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JEFFERSONVILLE – No. 4 Maryville University used a 4-2 advantage in penalty kicks to get past No. 2 Bellarmine University to claim the 2018 Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s Soccer Championship on Sunday, Nov. 4 at Woehrle Athletic Complex in Jeffersonville, Ind. The Saints tied the Knights through regulation, 2-2, but made four of their five penalty kicks to claim the program’s first league title in just their second appearance in the event.
For the second time in this postseason, No. 4 Maryville used penalty kicks to get passed its opponent, advancing over No. 5 Indianapolis in the quarterfinals shootout, 5-3, a week ago.
In Sunday’s championship match, the Saints struck first in the 38th minute off a chip over the keeper by Ricardo Andrade, but the Knights answered less than five minutes later via the GLVC Defensive Player of the Year, Jonas Skulstad, who headed it home off a free kick service.
The 1-1 deadlock carried into halftime before Bellarmine took its first lead of the match at 56:23 when Micah Linscott collected a pass from Tomas Bernedo just inside the box and placed it low into the far right corner for a 2-1 lead. Maryville, however, turned around on the ensuing kickoff 16-seconds later to find the equalizer from JD Sohn. The sophomore received a long ball from Dom Riggio at the top of the box, settled it with one touch and, with his second touch, found the far right side netting on a near-impossible angle while losing his balance and falling to the ground. That would be the last score of the contest despite another 50-plus minutes of action through the rest of regulation and two overtime periods.
In the penalty kick shootout, Maryville shot first and went ahead 1-0 before Christian Kjaersgaard saved Bellarmine’s first two attempts. The Saints second kicker hit the post but the next two shooters for both teams finished their chances, and Maryville’s Zulfikar Karimi placed the last attempt low and to the right for the winner.
The Knights had an astounding advantage over the Saints in shots with 21, putting 11 on frame, while Maryville put four of its nine on goal. Kjaersgaard made eight saves for Maryville, while Bellarmine keeper Connor Range stopped one.
This is the second year NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer will utilize an automatic qualifier, and the No. 8 regionally-ranked Saints (10-4-5) earned it for the GLVC. The Knights (12-5-2) are fifth in the region and will find out their fate in the national tournament at 6 p.m. Eastern Time Monday during the live Selection Show on NCAA.com.
The championship game can be replayed on the GLVC Sports Network by clicking the “On Demand” tab and selecting the match. Visit the official Championship Tournament homepage at
GLVCsports.com/2018soccer for more details.