The Cedarville men’s soccer team earned a trip to their third consecutive G-MAC championship game Thursday night, defeating second-seeded Alderson Broaddus 5-1 in the conference tournament semifinal. The final will be at home, this Saturday, Nov. 8 at noon.
The first half was a defensive struggle, with neither team being able to score. Between the two teams, only six shots were taken. In the second half, however, the goals came in bunches.
Cedarville started the scoring quickly in the second half with a goal by Connor Scott four minutes in. Scott scored again, giving them a 2-0 cushion. Not to be outdone, the Battlers came back with a goal of their own less than a minute later.
Cedarville refused to let Alderson Broaddus battle back into the game, scoring four minutes later on a goal by Ethan Shula. Goals by Justin Santoro and Joel Twinem in the 85th and 88th minutes, respectively, put the game out of reach and propelled the Yellow Jackets to the conference final for the third consecutive year.
Two years ago, in the inaugural G-MAC tournament, Cedarville, the second seed, lost a thriller to top-seeded Urbana University, 2-1, in an overtime thriller. Last year, the Yellow Jackets returned to the final as the second seed, but upset top-seeded Davis & Elkins College in another thriller, winning 4-3 on penalty kicks.
This season, the Yellow Jackets earned the top seed in the tournament, going unbeaten in conference play. As the top seed, they received an automatic bye into the semifinals tonight and have the privilege of hosting the tournament.
Cedarville (13-4-2 (7-0-1 GMAC)) will play in the conference final this Saturday at home with kickoff at 12:00. They will play the winner of the second semifinal, which pits second-seeded Davis & Elkins against fourth-seeded Salem International. The Yellow Jackets defeated Davis & Elkins on the road 2-0 in their only meeting this season on Oct. 8 and beat Salem International at home 3-0 on Oct. 20.
Tyler Greenwood is a sophomore mechanical engineering major and a sports reporter for Cedars.
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