MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois men's soccer team took down Kansas City, 2-1, in its Summit League regular season finale to clinch an entry into the conference tournament at John MacKenzie Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Fighting Leathernecks (5-8-4, 3-2-2 Summit League) got the win they needed to guarantee a berth into The Summit League tournament, thanks to goals from senior Nathan Bruinsma and junior Drew Edmond. The four-team playoff will be held Friday and Sunday (Nov. 9 & 11) at John MacKenzie Alumni Field, hosted by Western Illinois.
Kansas City falls to 7-9-2 overall and 5-2 in the conference, wrapping up the second-seed in the conference tournament.
Fort Wayne also defeated IUPUI tonight to clinch the fourth seed, pushing the Leathernecks into the third slot. This means Western Illinois will take on Kansas City in a rematch of today's game in the semifinals on Friday.
"We don't want to have a poor effort tomorrow [against Belmont] and go in [to the Summit League tournament] with that bad taste, so right now, I'm probably not even celebrating it yet, but the pressure is off a little bit and maybe we'll play with a little more joy and maybe that'll help us because that pressure's off," head coach Dr. Eric Johnson said. "The pressure of hosting and not knowing if you're in it is huge. You can see the relief on the guys and how excited they are, so it's fantastic for our program that we've done it again. To finish in the top four is an accomplishment any year you do it and it gives you a chance."
The first half was back-and-forth, with each team taking four shots.
Bruinsma put the Leathernecks on the board first in the 49th minute, when he had a one-on-one situation with Kangaroo keeper Connor Sparrow. Bruinsma put a shot just inside the right post to earn his team-best fifth goal of the season, including his fourth in as many games. Junior Charlie Bales made a nice through pass to find Bruinsma and earn his team-leading fourth assist of the year.
The Leathernecks suffered a stroke of bad luck in the 55th minute. A Kangaroo crossed a ball into the box, which a Leatherneck defender attempted to head away but instead sent the ball into the upper right corner of the net to even the score at 1-1.
Western's offense maintained its aggression throughout the second half, and the persistence finally paid off in the 73rd minute.
Junior Oscar Ortega connected with Edmond on a long through ball, who then beat the keeper one-on-one to tally the game-winner for Western Illinois. The goal marked Edmond's first of the season, while Ortega's assist was his first, as well.
Sophomore keeper Yves Dietrich stopped five of six UMKC shots on goal to earn the win. Sparrow made five saves in goal for the 'Roos.
"When they had possession for 10, 15 passes, our counter-attack was really good when we did finally get it because we caught them coming forward a bit," Johnson added. "The whole journey of the season is trying to get better. We took some backwards steps when we didn't play well, but the game against Bradley was a big step forward with our energy and that carried forward against ORU and into today."
The game also marked the first time the Leathernecks have scored two goals in two consecutive matches.
Western Illinois will honor its four seniors tomorrow: Aaron Appel, Nathan Bruinsma, Hilary Esangbedo and Aaron Winkelmann. The Leathernecks play host to Belmont in a nonconference match for Senior Day at 1 p.m. at John MacKenzie Alumni Field, before beginning preparations for the conference tournament.
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