After a 17-year hiatus, the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament title returned to Alumni Field on Saturday night as senior Kelvin Omondi's late-game heroics sent the John Brown University men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Science and Arts (Okla.), which also propelled the Golden Eagles dancing into the 2019 NAIA National Championships field.
"It's great to see fruit from the building process we've taken on the last couple years," said JBU head coach Brenton Benware. "Out of our 24-man roster, 18 are freshmen or sophomores. The buy-in has been at the highest level, and the group has acted like veterans in terms of maturity to tackle the obstacles of season. I'm excited to see how we can respond to further postseason challenges this year, as well as the next few seasons!"
After another agonizing shot was rejected by the Drover defense in the box, senior Amilcar Gonzalez, the nation's assist leader, clinically chested the rebound into the corner before sending a cross from the right flank into the box. A failed attempt to clear skimmed a USAO defender's head, right to the feet of Omondi waiting at the back post -- and in his last match at Alumni Field, the senior striker did what he does best.
Omondi corralled the ball and struck a shot to the upper left corner of the goal in the 79th minute from five yards away, sending the raucous Alumni Field faithful into a frenzy. The seventh goal of the season for Omondi had to stand for just under 12 more minutes.
The visiting Drovers nearly made their only shot on goal in the second half count with just under 20 minutes left in the match, but Abdel Nait-Zerrad's shot at the back post found the forehead of junior Samuel Estrada, stationed inside the near post. While the shot sent Estrada backwards into the goal, the ball deflected away from harm and the JBU clean sheet bid maintained.
Not that the Golden Eagles (17-3-0) weren't without their chances that nearly beat USAO keeper Daniel Merkel. Freshman Jacob Zamarron nearly sent the hosts off to a dream start in the eighth minute when his low, long-range blast hit the far goal post square. In the 75th, Gonzalez cut into the middle and unleashed a 25-yard left-footed blast that rattled the crossbar, but could only serve as a prelude for Omondi's heroics a few minutes later.
The Drovers (13-6-1) continued to push in the waning minutes but senior Britt Wisener's outstanding positioning and directing of the defense allowed the 2019 SAC Goalkeeper of the Year to collect cross after cross, negating the visitors' six second-half corner kicks.
With just under two minutes left in full time, Merkel delivered a service from the half line into the Golden Eagle box. Wisener again attacked the volley, but was bumped before he could catch the service. Before the ball could bounce, USAO's Ramiro Valenzuela had an attempt to punch the ball into the empty goal, but sophomore Jack Bos interfered just enough with the follow through as the ball floated wide of the awning goal.
The Drovers drove down the pitch in one last effort, but Estrada blocked the service from the middle into the box, allowing JBU to counter up the field. Zamarron drew a foul in the run of play, allowing the clock to run down to JBU's second-ever tournament title (2002).
Wisener and the back line of Jack Bos, Marcelo Mendes, Matej Urbanija and Adrian Immel posted John Brown's 11th clean sheet of the season. Merkel was tabbed with the loss, making a pair of saves on three chances.
The hosts held a strong 17-5 shooting advantage, but the Drovers enjoyed an 8-3 advantage in services from the corner flag. Zamarron led all players with six shot attempts.
With the win, the Golden Eagles not only add to its trophy display case, but earned the SAC's lone auto-bid into the NAIA National Championships. The squad will be making the program's sixth-ever appearance and will travel to Columbia (Ky.) for the opening round of NAIA National Championships where JBU will play Southeastern (Fla.) at 3 p.m. Friday. Southeastern finished 11-5-3 on the season. The winner of Friday's game will face host Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) at 3 p.m. on Saturday. John Brown lost 8-1 to Lindsey Wilson on Sept. 12 in Columbia.
Sports on 11/20/2019