For the second-straight game, Tulsa advances in the American Athletic Conference Championship after going to a penalty kick shootout as the fourth-seeded TU men’s soccer team tied top-seeded and seventh-ranked SMU, 2-2, on Friday evening at the Corbett Soccer Stadium in Tampa, Fla.  The two teams then battled for the right to advance to title game and Tulsa took a 4-3 advantage in the shootout.  The Golden Hurricane moved to 7-6-5 on the season, while the Mustangs moved to 13-2-4 overall.

 

“I think the guys deserve a lot of credit,” Head Coach Tom McIntosh said.  “They played well, moved the ball well and combined well.  We gave up a late goal, which was disappointing, but the resiliency of this team is unbelievable. This is just another example of this teams’ toughness.  I am really proud of them.”

 

Geoffrey Dee put TU on the board at the 20:38 mark as he drilled in a penalty kick, but SMU’s Idrissa Camara also scored on a PK in the 42^nd minute and the two teams went into the break tied, 1-1.

 

In the second frame, Bradley Bourgeois put the Hurricane up once again as he headed in a corner kick taken by Dee at the 61:38 mark.  Jared Rice evened the score for the Mustangs in the 88^th minute to force overtime.

 

Neither team found the back of the net in the two 10-minute overtime periods and the game went into the penalty kick shootout.

 

SMU’s John Lujano stepped the line first, but missed and Miguel Velasquez punched his attempt in to put TU up 1-0.

 

Then Camara scored his, followed by a miss from Cole Poppen.

 

Both Dee and Mauro Cichero scored their attempts, followed by makes by both Zack Stavrou and Rice to make the shootout, 3-3.

 

For the final kick in the first round, goalkeeper Michael Nelson stepped to the line and missed so when Ray Saari made his shot, TU earned the right to advance, 4-3.

 

TU will play #3 seed UConn in the Championship game on Sunday, November 15 beginning at 1:00 pm Central.  The American Championship game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.

 

 

Scoring Summary

Tulsa   1          1          0          0          -           2

SMU    1          1          0          0          -           2

 

Individual Scoring

Geoffrey Dee (Tulsa) at 20:38 (penalty kick)

Idrissa Camara (SMU) at 41:34 (penalty kick)

Bradley Bourgeois (Tulsa) at 61:38 (Geoffrey Dee)

Jared Rice (SMU) at 87:41 (corner kick)

 

Goalkeeper Saves

Jake McGuire (Tulsa) – 3

Michael Nelson (SMU) – 5

 

-TulsaHurricane.com-