WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - CIU men's soccer geared up to take on Carolina University (N.C.) in Thursday night's NCCAA South Region Tournament Championship game. The Rams hold a 3-1 all-time record against the Bruins, but they fell to them in their last matchup in 2022. Carolina took the lead 15 minutes in and held onto this for the remainder of the contest to clinch the South Region title.

Match Summary: The game's first shot resulted in a goal for the Bruins (15:42), with their second shot coming just four minutes later. Zion Atkinson started the Rams' offense with a shot that sailed left (23:55), followed by a header attempt from Bryan Molina from a corner kick. 

Lucas Galdino's shot was gathered in, but Matias Breit hauled a Bruins' shot in to keep the score as is. Galdino and Molina made another attempt, but Carolina's keeper hauled these in. Sohya Yamamoto took a shot with seconds remaining in the first frame in hopes of evening out the score, but it remained 1-0 going into the intermission. 

Galdino took the first shot of the second half and sailed it wide, but the Bruins responded with a shot that ricocheted off the crossbar. Chase Knizek gathered in the header off of this attempt. Yamamoto and Molina continued to work the keeper until Daniel Ospina joined in on the action with a shot of his own (67:32). 

Ospina and Molina took back-to-back shots that were both gathered in, and then Gabriel Rokov's attempt was also saved. Igor Eduardo made a last-second attempt to even out the score, but the Bruins' keeper managed it to secure their 1-0 win.