Spires Get Revenge Against The Braves and Head to KCAC Championship Game

Leavenworth, Kan.- The Saint Mary Men's soccer team took on the Ottawa Braves in round two of the KCAC tournament in Wichita, Kansas, resulting in a 5-3 win. Saint Mary improves their record to 13-3-3 overall as they are going to their third KCAC Championship title game in program history.

Ottawa started aggressively as the game began multiple shots were taken, but Come Grieu prevented Ottawa from scoring. Almost twenty minutes into the game, Ramiro Vasquez put the Spires on the board to give Saint Mary the early 1-0 lead. Just four minutes later, Jan Stachura assisted Anthony Rangel for another score to put USM up 2-0. Ottawa refused to lay down as they scored a goal of their own four minutes later to make the score 2-1 in favor of USM. With a little under seven minutes to go in the half, Saint Mary again found the back of the net, this time thanks to Ottawa scoring on their own goal to give Saint Mary the 3-1 lead heading into halftime.

The second half started with great defensive play by both teams, being held scoreless for the first twenty minutes. That is until Romario Harding scored for the Spires to give them the 4-1 lead. Ottawa again responded with another goal to cut the Spire lead in half. With five minutes left, Saint Mary again built on their lead as Rangel assisted Guilherme Caldas for the score to extend the lead to 5-2. A last-minute goal by Ottawa made the score 5-3, but the damage had already been done for the Braves as Saint Mary punched their ticket to the KCAC Championship game, winning by a score of 5-3. Grieu had six saves on the day, while Rangel had one goal and an assist for the Spires.

Up Next

Saint Mary will play Oklahoma Wesleyan University for the KCAC Championship at 4 p.m on Saturday in Wichita, Kansas.