SILOAM SPRINGS -- The John Brown University men's soccer team entered play on Saturday knowing that with a win and some help, the Golden Eagles could still move up the table and secure a home date in the quarterfinal round of the Sooner Athletic Conference championship tournament.
John Brown (7-9-0, 5-4-0 Sooner Athletic) did its part, holding off a late rally from Southwestern Christian (10-5-1, 4-3-1) to win 3-2, and leap-frogging the Eagles in the conference table in the process.
Junior Oscar Carballo opened the scoring in the 36th minute by dribbling through the middle of the SCU defense before firing a shot low and just inside the left post to give John Brown a 1-0 lead.
While that strike proved to be the only scoring in the first half, Carballo struck again to complete the brace just after the intermission. This time he ripped a brilliant strike to the far left post from 30 yards out, putting it in the goal, and doubling the hosts' lead to 2-0.
SCU tried to rally, but JBU was able to answer each challenge. Jeremiah Vidale scored for SCU in the 59th minute, and the Eagles kept things close as time wound down, but they were never able to draw level. Junior Jacob Zamarron netted his team-leading 15th of the season in the 84th minute, of a lovely feed from freshman Alejandro Ramirez, that proved to be the game-winner, and though Vidale added a second marker in the 85th minute, John Brown held on to secure the 3-2 result.
The JBU win gives them 15 points in the table, and will await the outcome of SCU and Texas Wesleyan's match on Tuesday (Nov. 2) to learn its fate. If the Eagles can earn a victory over Texas Wesleyan in Ft. Worth, John Brown will most likely travel to Bethany, Okla. for a rematch with Southwestern Christian. If SCU loses or draws, the tournament quarterfinals edition of the rematch will occur in Siloam Springs.
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