Photo Credit: Robbie Gawrys | North Greenville
KISSIMMEE, Fl.--- Asbury men's soccer (10-8-3) scored the opening goal for the second consecutive day in the National Christian College Athletics Association (NCCAA) National Tournament in Kissimmee, Fl., but the No. 9 seed fell by one goal in the second and final day of pool play on Tuesday afternoon to the No. 6 seed Southwestern Christian University (8-6-5), 2-1.
The match kicked off under sunny skies with temperatures hovering around 62 degrees. Asbury University opened the scoring with senior business admin major
Ryan Kim finding the net at the 28:50 mark for his sixth of the season, assisted by
Yousef Ismail (2) and
Austin Dunlap (5). However, Southwestern Christian (SCU) responded with goals from Teejay Chiororo and Andre Lopes in the 34th and 71st minutes.
It was a game with high physicality, evidenced by a total of 32 fouls and six yellow cards. SCU had 21 of the 32 fouls while both teams contributed three yellow cards,
Jon Gordon,
Grant Slater, and
Ben Davis from Asbury.
SCU demonstrated aggressive play with 18 shots throughout the game, putting 10 on target. Asbury's junior goalkeeper,
Crosby Short, made eight saves. Asbury had two shots in the first half and four in the second, putting three on goal.
Sophomore
Jason Flaming and senior
Cameron Johnson each had a shot on goal for AU. Senior midfielder
Dalton Fleshood played 90 minutes for Asbury in the matchup. SCU's offensive press was also seen in their seven corner kicks compared to Asbury's four.
The loss for AU comes after dropping their opening match of the National Tournament to the No. 1 seed Carolina University by one goal as well. This concludes the 2024 campaign for Asbury men's soccer, finishing the year 10 wins for the second consecutive season. Asbury's last 10 win season before 2023 was in 2017.
"So proud of the effort of our guys. They did enough to have a chance at winning both games unfortunately there are no small details in the national tournament and that seemed to be the difference between a win and the loss for us. I fully expect either of those teams to be playing in the finals come Saturday. I'm just grateful for who my team is and what they've done for this program not only this season but over the last few years."
Ben Andrews | Asbury Men's Soccer Head Coach
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Ryan Kim | G (6)
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Austin Dunlap | AST (5)
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Yousef Ismail | AST (2)
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Crosby Short | 8 SV
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Jason Flaming | SOG
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Cameron Johnson | SOG
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Dalton Fleshood | 90 MIN
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