COLUMBIA, Ky. -- After a hard-fought 110-minute effort last night versus Southeastern (Fla.), the John Brown University men's soccer team had to take on bracket host and national No. 5 seed Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) in the finals of the NAIA National Championships Opening Round. The Blue Raiders ended JBU's season with a 4-1 decision on Saturday night (Nov. 23) at Blue Raider Stadium.
Lindsey Wilson (14-3-1) tallied four first-half goals as the Golden Eagles (17-4-1) spent the second half trying to whittle away at the deficit.
Freshman Jacob Zamarron scored his NAIA-leading 26th goal of the season in the 57th minute, off an entry pass into the box from sophomore Goncalo Verissimo. JBU couldn't chip away any further at the hosts' lead, however, as the Golden Eagles made an exit from the National Championships but not before tying the program's single-season win record with 17 victories (1991, 1993).
Making its 26th appearance in the National Championships, the Blue Raiders jumped out early with three different goal-scorers in the first half as Bruno Henrique struck in just the 6th minute to give the hosts an early lead.
Rainer De Jesus converted a penalty kick in the 29th before LWC added two more goals in a span of 3:19 to build a commanding 4-0 advantage. Henrique potted his second of the match before Alexander Koziolek buried another as the Blue Raiders out-shot the Golden Eagles 11-5 in the first half.
With the season on the line, John Brown responded with 13 shots in the second half to pull the final shot total to 20-18, in favor of Lindsey Wilson.
Lindsey Wilson now advances to the 2019 NAIA National Championship Round of 16 in Irvine, Calif. where the Blue Raiders will take on California, Merced at the Orange County Great Park.
Saying Goodbye »
The Golden Eagles say goodbye to five graduates in Kelvin Omondi, Amilcar Gonzalez, Ryan Smith, Britt Wisener and Marcelo Mendes. Over the past five seasons, the program made its fifth and sixth appearances in the NAIA National Championships and in 2019 won the program's first-ever Sooner Athletic regular season title before capturing the second SAC tournament crown.
