Nov. 13, 2009

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ROCHESTER, Mich. - Sophomore Jonathan Evans scored the tying goal in the 55th minute and sophomore goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt made four saves, but it wasn't enough as the top-seeded Oakland University men's soccer team (9-5-3, 5-0-1 Summit League) fell in the final minutes to No. 4 seed UMKC (7-9-2, 2-2-2 Summit League) in The Summit League Tournament semifinals Friday afternoon at the OU Soccer Field.

"UMKC is a good team and they have a few special players," said head coach Eric Pogue. "We had a game plan and we played them tough. When we played them this season, we won 2-1 in overtime and that game could have gone either way. I think every time we play, it's going to be a one goal game. We got the one in the regular season and they got the one in the postseason."

The Kangaroos got on the board first when Bryan Perez notched his 11th goal of the season by scoring off a rebound inside the box in the 39th minute, brining the score to a 1-0 UMKC advantage. Tom Black was credited with the assist and the 'Roos would carry that lead into halftime.

Evans notched the tying goal, the first tally of his career, in the 55th minute when he scored off a rebound, knotting the match up at one goal apiece. Freshman Shane Lyons registered his first assist of the season on the play.

With the second half winding to a close, UMKC scored what would be the game-winning goal in the 85th minute when Coady Andrews accepted a feed from John Bayron Sosa and headed the ball past the goalkeeper to bring the match to its eventual final score of 2-1.

The Golden Grizzlies outshot the Kangaroos 20-13 and had more corner kick opportunities with six compared to UMKC's four. Oakland also committed fewer fouls with 12, while the 'Roos recorded 17.

"It's one thing when you lose and you don't play with any heart or effort, but that was certainly not the case with our guys," said Pogue. "I think this team overachieved from the get-go, with a bunch of young players, and they worked hard all season and believed in themselves. This hurts, but hopefully we'll lick our wounds and get back out there working hard after the new year to make sure this doesn't happen again."

The championship match will be played on Sunday, Nov. 15 when UMKC will face off against No. 2 seed Western Illinois University at noon, with the winning team earning an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. The match can be followed via Gametracker at www.ougrizzlies.com.

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