OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Golden Eagles leveled the match twice but couldn't find the game-winner as the John Brown University men's soccer team battled to a 2-2 draw against Oklahoma City on Tuesday night (Oct. 28) at Brian Harvey Field.
While the draw guarantees at least a second-place finish for the Golden Eagles (10-3-4, 5-1-3 Sooner Athletic), the Blue and Gold missed an opportunity to win its first Sooner Athletic regular season title since 2019 on its own merits, and must now wait for help.
Oklahoma City (10-3-4, 4-0-4) will now conclude its regular season with a date at Central Christian (Okla.) on Friday (Oct. 31) in McPherson. If the Stars win, they clinch the title, but if City draws or loses, the Golden Eagles claim the crown and the tournament championships' overall top seed.
Regardless, John Brown is guaranteed two home matches through the semifinal round of the tournament on its home grounds, which begins with the quarterfinals on Tuesday night (Nov. 4), scheduled to kick-off at 7 p.m.
The hosts ultimately started off on the front foot, courtesy of Shay Prescod's first goal of the season – a rip to the bottom left corner of goal from the top of the box to open the scoring.
Then moments before halftime, senior Braeden Templin chipped a header in past City keeper Alexis Bertrand to tie the match at one apiece. Junior Atim Roper laid off a pass to senior Steven Cisneros for the chip to Templin to setup his second goal of the season.
Early in the 69th minute, the Stars again went ahead off another set piece, giving the Blue and Gold just over 20 minutes to at least find an equalizer.
Persistence in the box finally paid off with 1:50 left in the match as the Golden Eagles earned an opportunity at the spot, and Roper finished his three-point outing by slotting the penalty past Bertrand for the 2-2 strike.
Roper now boasts a team-leading eight goals and 23 points on the 2025 campaign.
JBU had one final opportunity at goal, but junior Kendal Madrigal's offering sailed over the crossbar allowing time to expire.
Both keepers – Bertrand and senior Adam Tebbs (5-3-4) – made four saves apiece as the visitors finished with a narrow 12-11 shooting advantage.
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