ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- Competing without three starters and facing the No. 2-ranked team in the nation, the John Brown University men's soccer team delivered a disciplined, resilient performance in a 3-1 defeat to MidAmerica Nazarene on Tuesday afternoon (Dec. 2) in the NAIA National Championships Round of 16 at the Orange Beach Sports Complex.
The Golden Eagles (12-5-5), unseeded in the 40-team national field, reached the final site for the first time under the tournament's modern format and advanced farther than any Sooner Athletic Conference program in the 2025 campaign. Its run ended against the seventh-seeded Pioneers (15-2-5), who converted two moments of quality and benefited from an unfortunate own goal to claim a spot in the national quarterfinal round.
Despite missing SAC Player of the Year Marcos Miranda and fellow starters Amaury Jarry and Gabriel Cabrera due to injury, John Brown matched one of the nation's elite sides in a tight, low-event knockout match that ultimately hinged on fine margins.
MidAmerica Nazarene struck first inside a minute, when forward Elyes Ellouz uncorked a long-distance drive that sailed past senior Adam Tebbs to give the Pioneers an early advantage.
But the Golden Eagles responded with composure and precision, producing one of its most impressive sequences of the postseason.
In the fifth minute, junior Kendal Madrigal collected the ball in the right channel and delivered a bending cross toward the penalty spot, where freshman Jorge Cervantes rose above his marker and guided a clean header – his second of the season – inside the near post to equalize.
The balance Cervantes struck was broken in the 18th minute when a sharply served Pioneer ball into the area was inadvertently redirected into the JBU net for an own goal, pushing MNU ahead 2-1 in a moment that proved decisive. Aside from that misfortune, the sides combined for only four shots in the period.
John Brown emerged from the interval with renewed intent, carrying much of the early second-half momentum. The Golden Eagles generated seven corner kicks between the 54th and 70th minutes and maintained long stretches of territorial pressure, probing for yet another equalizer.
Yet against the run of play, MNU restored its two-goal cushion in the 64th minute, when Ellouz capitalized on a miscommunication between the back line and Tebbs to slot home his second of the afternoon.
Still, the Golden Eagles pressed on. Junior Atim Roper flashed a header narrowly wide in the 85th minute right in front of goal, and freshman Serigne Massine forced a save moments later from the same spot as JBU searched for a lifeline. But the Pioneers managed the final stages cleanly, riding its early cushion and bit of luck to secure advancement with just six total shots.
JBU finished the afternoon with a 6-5 deficit in shot attempts yet held an 8-1 edge in corner kicks.
Tuesday's match concludes a 2025 campaign defined by competitive maturity and growth, as the Blue and Gold returned to the national stage for the first time since 2019, advanced to the final site for the first time in the current tournament structure, and recorded the program's best postseason run in the modern era.
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