WICHITA, Kan. – Regulation and double overtime were not enough to end the 1-1 stalemate, as penalty kicks were needed to determine the winner with the William Carey Men's Soccer Team advancing 4-3.
 
"So proud of the boys today'" said Head Coach Barry Farrell. "We have practiced for that moment all season. Looking forward to playing now in the final 8 of the NAIA National Tournament."
 
The Wildcats had the early chances with four in the first ten minutes. Taha Houssni sent the first attempt high less than thirty seconds into the match and six minutes later Henry Hampshaw made his first of three saves on a shot by Brandon Nyagurungo. The final two shots by Indiana Wesleyan sailed high keeping the game scoreless.
 
The Crusaders settled in on defense, allowing more opportunities on offense with Roberto Rangel having the first two chances but both attempts missed wide left with the second chance coming at the sixteen-minute mark. Things cooled off a bit on the offensive end, as the defenses took over for the next twenty minutes.
 
Again, it was the Wildcats that got things going on offense with three consecutive shots. Over a three-minute span a shot by Kyle Rinehart in the 34^th minute looked as if it was going in, but a Carey defender stepped in at the last second, deflecting the ball to keep IWU off the board. The ensuing corner kick led to another chance for the Wildcats, but the shot sailed high with the final attempt also going high.
 
Carey was able to create opportunities in the final minutes of play with three corner kicks but could only manage to get off one shot by Kolby Godbolt that was blocked, sending the game into the break tied at zero.
 
The battle continued in the second half with Teddy Miranda missing high for Carey in the 50^th minute and in the 55^th minute Diego Palma sent a shot towards the goal, but Hampshaw was there for the save.
 
After another attempt by the Wildcats went high, Godbolt broke the deadlock with a header in the 63^rd minute. Djordje Djukovic crossed the ball from the right touch line to the middle of the six-yard box. Godbolt and the IWU keeper Kadin Wolfe made a break for the ball with Godbolt just beating the keeper for the go-ahead goal.
 
Over the next twenty minutes, the Crusader defense held strong, allowing just two shot attempts with the best look missing just left of the goal. However, in the 85th minute Volkan Celikkol crossed the ball from the left corner of the 18-yard box to the middle for Giuseppe Santacroce who made one touch on the ball and buried it into the bottom left corner of the goal for the equalizer. The final minutes of the second half saw only one more shot attempt with that coming from Godbolt in 88^th minute that went wide left sending the game into overtime.
 
In the first overtime, it was the Crusaders that had the opportunities with Miranda having the best chance in the 94^th minute but Wolfe was there for the save with the final looks coming off back-to-back corner kicks, but the Wildcat defense was able to clear the ball each time, sending the game into double overtime. In double overtime both teams took one shot with the IWU keeper, saving the attempt by Billy Boag with the Wildcats attempt going wide left, sending the game to penalty kicks.
 
Carey opened the PK's with Caoimhin McConnell sending his attempt dead center of the goal to put WCU up 1-0. Indiana Wesleyan followed, making their attempt to even things at one apiece. In the next round Joshua Salas missed his attempt just left of the goal with the Wildcats making theirs, to go up 2-1.
 
The third round saw Boag bury his attempt in the left corner with Jaxon Carpenter missing his shot just to the left to even things at two. Both squads made their attempts in the fourth round with Oscar Vallejo making it for Carey. Elias Salminen was the fifth Crusader to step up for a PK. On the shot the Wildcat keeper went diving to his right, but Salminen had the shot going in the opposite direction to put Carey up 4-3.
 
With a shot to extend the penalty kicks for IWU, Santacroce sent his shot to the bottom left corner, but Hampshaw chose wisely diving in the same direction, just getting enough of the ball to send the Crusaders on to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2019.
 
"I thought we deserved the win," said Hampshaw. "I thought we were the better team throughout and on the winning penalty save, I just picked a side and trusted myself to commit and get a fingertip to it."
 
The Crusaders are back in action Thursday, December 5, as they take on second seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan. Play is set to begin at 4:00 pm at the Scheels Stryker Sports Complex.