Montgomery, Ala.- West Alabama men's soccer advances to semifinals in the GSC Spring Championship Series with the win over Auburn Montgomery in penalty kicks.
"We play this game for moments like this. What a feeling it was," UWA head coach Ross Nelson said. "The lads were ruthless today. I can't fault any of their effort. It was an absolute battle from start to finish against a strong and very well coached AUM side. As I have said before, we are not done yet!"
The first goal for the Tigers was at the 29:04 mark by Jared Walker.
Three minutes later the Warhwaks tied the match at 1-1 by a goal from Lucas Batistela. In the 87th minute AUM added another goal.
The Tigers responded just seven seconds later after pouncing on a Warhawk defensive error.
The match was knotted at 2-2 before West Alabama and AUM entered the second overtime period where neither teams scored.
UWA and Auburn Montgomery then went into penalty kicks. Jules Dechert made his biggest save for the Tigers this season so far. He saved Natan Jhaltalin's penalty kick to give the Tigers the win.
Four yellow cards and 42 fouls were called in the matchup as AUM was called for 22 and UWA called for 20.
"As always we will focus on recovery for now and shift all our focus to the semifinals," Nelson said.
West Alabama returns to action Saturday or Sunday against Group A No. 2 Union. More information will be announced when it is available.
To stay connected with the UWA men's soccer team, follow @UWAmenssoccer on Instagram. General athletic news, along with game recaps and box scores, can be found at uwaathletics.com. Additional updates and information are available @UWAAthletics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
