CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The 2022 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Men’s Soccer Tournament semifinal matchups have been set after two thrilling matches in the first round held this afternoon and evening. The semifinals will be held in Dubuque and Decorah on Wednesday, November 2nd. The winners of the semifinal matches will meet at the higher seed for the championship match set for Saturday, November 5th.
The No. 5-seed Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves (8-6-3, 4-2-2 A-R-C) is headed to Dubuque, Iowa for round two with the Duhawks of Loras (9-5-2, 5-1-2 A-R-C), this time in the conference tournament semifinals. The Prairie Wolves are headed to the semifinals for the first time since 2017 after a 2-1 win over No. 4-seed Wartburg (7-2-9, 3-0-5 A-R-C). Nebraska Wesleyan scored both of their goals in the first half to put the Prairie Wolves up 2-0 heading into halftime. Alex Kohler got things started for the Prairie Wolves in the 21st minute when he found the back of the net on a pass from Bryan Andrade. Just seven minutes later, Thomas Distefano scored a goal unassisted. Wartburg kept fighting in the second half as they outshot Nebraska Wesleyan 12-1. Edvin Rizvic scored the lone goal for the Knights on a pass from Curtis Ratzer in the 87th minute. Nebraska Wesleyan’s goalkeeper, Zachary Weis, is the hero for the Prairie Wolves as he recorded six saves in the match with four coming in the second half.
Nebraska Wesleyan and Loras last met early in the season on September 24th in Dubuque where Loras would come away with the 5-0 win. All five goals came from different scorers, Kyler Donovan, Matthew Williams, Michael Koutsopanagos, Reed Miklavcic, and Nicolò Spuri. Kickoff is tentatively set for 7:30 p.m. from the Rock Bowl on the campus of Loras College on Wednesday, November 2nd. The winner will roll on to the 2022 A-R-C Men’s Soccer Tournament Championship match on Saturday, November 5th at the higher seed.
The No. 3-seed Simpson College Storm (12-3-3, 4-1-3 A-R-C) advanced to the semifinals with a hard fought 4-1 victory over the University of Dubuque Spartans (8-7-4, 3-2-3 A-R-C) tonight. It was a defensive battle in the first half as no team scored until the 55th minute. Simpson’s Mateaus Lewis found the goal to start the scoring tonight. He was assisted by Matt Hasken and Ronaldo Ordaz-Zambra. Just a few minutes later, Baraka Ellie scored the game-winning goal for Simpson with an assist from Andrew Russell. The Spartans got their lone goal from Drew Wisdom in the 66th minute. Simpson got additional goals from Roderick Orellana and Russell to round out the scoring and advance them to the semifinals to face the No. 2-seed Luther College Norse (10-3-5, 4-0-4 A-R-C) of the A-R-C Men’s Soccer Tournament.
Simpson and Luther met on October 15th in Decorah and neither team came away with a win, instead a 2-2 draw. Scoring for the Norse in that match was Fel Alvarez Casaro and Faydane Ouro-Akondo. The Storm got a goal from Ellie and another on an own goal. Kickoff from the Luther College Soccer Pitch in Decorah, Iowa is set for Wednesday, November 2nd. The start time is to be determined. The winner will advance to play in the championship match on Saturday, November 5th.
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