St. Scholastica wins fifth-straight UMAC men's soccer tourney title on penalty kicks
DULUTH, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men's soccer championship game was a rematch from a year ago between No. 1 College of St. Scholastica and No. 2 University of Wisconsin-Superior and it definitely didn't disappoint. After a 2-2 and two overtime periods, the top-seed Saints captured their fifth-straight postseason title to advance to the NCAA tournament on penalty kicks 3-2 Saturday afternoon.
During the regular season, the bridge rivals split their season series with St. Scholastica capturing the victory in conference play to lock up another title. Wisconsin-Superior was hungry to win, though, and made the Saints work for the conference playoff crown.
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Box Score |
No. 1 St. Scholastica jumped out to a quick lead with Shawayne Folkes scoring in just the 11th minute on a set up from Ryan Flynn. Then, 23 minutes later, Luke Buckton put the Saints up 2-0 on a goal set up from Folkes and Josh Robak.
Facing a 2-0 deficit, the Yellowjackets had a chance to cut the Saints' lead in half in the 26th minute on a penalty kick attempt but a miss wide saw them still down 2-0. Less than a minute later, though, John Bucklew converted a penalty kick to make it a 2-1 game after a red card put the Saints down a man for the remainder of the game.
The Saints were up 2-1 coming out of the half, but the Yellowjackers weren't ready to give up. In the 62nd minute, Bucklew came up big again scoring on a set up from Ryan Wisdom to even the game at 2-2. Neither team could find an answer for the other in regulation or overtime, setting up extra penalty kicks to decide the winner.
Down a player, the Saints' keeper Sandy Davidson-Hunt was forced to work in goal making 12 saves, but first-year Corrado Rosato came in to defend for the Saints in the penalty kick situation.
Kyle Farrar scored on the first shot for the Saints before Gio Rodriguez responded with a score of his own for the Yellowjackets to even it up after one round. Folkes then put the pressure on scoring to lead off the second round in which the Yellowjackets missed.
Up 2-1, the Saints missed in the third round before David Vilani evened the tally at 2-2 after three rounds. Both teams missed in the fourth round. Ryan Flynn ended up tallying the winning goal in the fifth round as the Yellowjackets missed the final shot sending the Saints on to the NCAA tournament.
With a regulation goal, an assist and a made shot in the penalty kicks, the Saints' Folkes was named the UMAC men's soccer Tournament MVP.
With the win, the Saints will represent the UMAC in the NCAA postseason and they will learn their fate Monday during the NCAA selection show at 12 p.m. on
NCAA.com.
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the
UMAC Men’s Soccer Tournament page. Keep up with all of the tournament action on
Twitter and
Instagram using
#UMACchamp.
Playoff Schedule
Quarterfinal Round – Monday, Oct. 31
No. 4 Martin Luther def. No. 5 Crown, 3-2 2OT |
Box Score |
MLC Recap |
CC Recap |
Semifinal Round – Wednesday, Nov. 2
No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 4 Martin Luther, 1-0 |
Box Score |
CSS Recap |
MLC Recap |
No. 2 Wisconsin-Superior def. No. 3 Northwestern, 5-1 |
Box Score |
UNW Recap |
UWS Recap |
Championship – Saturday, Nov. 5
No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 2 Wisconsin-Superior, 2-2, advance 3-2 in shootout |
Box Score |
CSS Recap |
UWS Recap |