MOBILE, Ala. - After a disappointing outing in their last match at the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament, CIU looked to redeem themselves in their first-ever trip to the NAIA Men's Soccer Championship Opening Round. The Rams took the field against the No. 3 seeded University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) out of the Mid-South Conference in the Mobile portion of the bracket. After an early goal in the first period, the Rams looked like they'd escape with a single score win. However, the Patriots would find the net late to force overtime. The Rams would answer in overtime to win 2-1 and advance to the final round of the Mobile bracket on Saturday.
Scoring Summary:
Sohya Yamamoto came up huge for the Rams in Thursday afternoon's contest. He would find the net at the 11:18 minute mark of the first period to give CIU the 1-0 advantage. CIU would play remarkable defense to hold of the Patriot's offensive attack in the first period. Cumberlands put together promising opportunities but, the back-line of the Rams was consistently in the right position at the right time to clear the ball away and prevent a tying score. The Rams would lead at the break 1-0.
The Patriot's offensive attack was more persistent in the second period as they would outshoot the Rams 7-3. Those opportunities would result in a goal with just over ten minutes left in regulation. Stephen Appiah would play in the tying goal at the 79:44 mark on an assist from Joel Drewery. Neither team could strike before regulation which would force a ten-minute overtime period.
With under three minutes left in the first overtime period, Soyha Yamamoto would keep the Rams 2021 season alive with a breathtaking goal on an assist from
Praise Kabwe.
The Rams defense was the story in this one. The Patriots took eight corner kicks and tallied 15 total shots on the night, but CIU stayed stalwart till the final whistle.
What Coach Bill Brindley is saying:
"All I can say is we grounded out a gritty win tonight. The guys were resilient and we survive to fight another day."
What's Next:
The Rams advance to play the top-seeded University of Mobile (Ala.) Rams at 5 PM CT Saturday, Nov. 20 in Mobile.
