In the 2011 NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship opening round matchup between University of the Incarnate Word and Midwestern State University, UIW was able to finally break through against a team that had thwarted them in four previous post-season matchups with a 1-0 victory in the final minutes.
Junior midfielder Vincent Bailey received a pass from senior Callum Riley in the 89th minute and buried his shot low and away from MSU's goalkeeper, Michael Wood, to put UIW up 1-0 with just over a minute left to play and when the final horn sounded, Incarnate Word had finally defeated the Mustangs in post-season play.
“This was exactly the kind of game you'd expect to have when you have to two best teams in the region going head-to-head with so much on the line,” UIW coach Vincent Martinez said. “We were fortunate to put away that opportunity late.”
It was just the second goal of the season for Bailey, who usually gets on the score sheet by racking up assists (he leads the team with eight). For Riley, who beat a defender down the sideline and around the corner along the back line in order to set up his teammate, it was his 4th assist of the year.
The Cardinals (14-2-3) were taking on Midwestern State in the post season for the fifth time – having lost all four of the previous meetings to the Mustangs. Both teams save great saves by their respective goalkeepers, but UIW's Chris Fidler was just one more save better than Wood, earning his 10th shutout of the season on the biggest stage of the year.
Incarnate Word had an advantage on the statistics on the shot chart as well, putting the ball at the net 18 times to MSU's 6 – although only five of the Cardinals' shots were truly on-goal, and the Mustangs put 4 in-frame.
Now, UIW will be heading to Colorado to take on No. 1 seed Fort Lewis College, which defeated Metro State, 3-0, earlier today, on Sunday.
