ST. LOUIS—[BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist Men's Soccer knocked off William Woods in the AMC Quarterfinal on Saturday afternoon. The top seeded Owls led 3-0 at halftime but the eight seeded Spartans stormed back with four goals in the second to pull off the upset.
Missouri Baptist entered the day as a sizeable underdog. The Owls were 13-2-3 and hadn't lost since September 1. At halftime, there was little reason for optimism as the home side held a 3-0 advantage.
But the Spartans didn't get the memo that the match was supposed to be over at halftime. The fight back began just two minutes into the second half. Ben Randolph was fouled in the box and Eduardo Maia converted the penalty kick to make it 3-1. Jake Smith then found the back of the net in the 59th minute and suddenly the once insurmountable William Woods' lead was down to one.
The equalizer arrived nine minutes later. Maia notched his second of the day, again from the penalty spot after Garrett Dieckhaus was fouled in the area, and the match was miraculously back to all square with 20 minutes still to play. They didn't stop there. In the 73rd minute, William Woods had a corner but the Spartans hit on the counter. Ben Boyd would eventually provide the finish and MBU had its first lead of the day at 4-3.
The Owls threw everything they had at the Spartan goal in the last 15 minutes but MBU keeper Sam Whittington was up to the task. The freshman finished the day with nine saves, including two critical stops in the final five minutes, to earn the win.
"The guys couldn't have responded better in the second half," noted MBU Head Coach Jake Alvernia. "I told them at half that we created more chances our previous game and asked for belief to come out and win the second half—well we did that and more!"
The win moves Missouri Baptist into the AMC Semifinals on Tuesday, November 7. They'll travel to Conway, Ark. for a battle with Central Baptist College at 6 pm. The fourth seeded Mustangs defeated the Spartans 2-1 last Saturday.
