PENSACOLA, FLA. – The first NCAA postseason contest for the Chowan Men's Soccer program produced all the excitement a fan could ask for in a 1-1 double-overtime draw that led to the Hawks advancing to the NCAA DII Men's Soccer Sweet 16 on penalty kicks against West Florida on Sunday afternoon.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 1, West Florida 1 – 2OT (CU advances 13-12 on PKs)

RECORDS | Chowan 13-3-2, West Florida 12-3-4

LOCATION | Pensacola, Fla. (UWF Soccer Complex)

FROM THE COACH

Thoughts on the performance of the team:

"It was a fantastic performance by the team today, to go through all of the penalty kicks that we had to score, showed that we worked hard on it and something that we are proud of.  The effort from the group was fantastic and they deserved to win the game.  I thought we could have even won the game in regulation, overall a fantastic performance from all of the team."

Thoughts on the preparation of the team:

"It was a difficult place to play, they (West Florida) had a big crowd and have been great hosts.  Playing down here has been a nice trip for the guys, we didn't come down here to be one of the numbers, we feel that we are one of the best teams in the country and can try to play with anybody."

"We obviously worked hard on our penalty kicks, but also worked just as hard on our shape and ways we thought we could hurt them.  We thought that we were the better team in regulation, and could have won in regulation if we took our chances."

Thoughts on the resiliency of the team:

"In games like this there are ebbs-and-flows, I think Toby (Sims) is one of the best players in the country, and scoring a crazy own goal, sometimes those things happen, that was against the run of play, we were the better team at the time.  Then, one of our other big time leaders, Harri Lovett, stepped up and scored a fantastic goal to get us back in the game.  I thought we were going to go on and win it (in regulation).  We were leading in penalties, we had a chance to win it in penalties and we missed, which was disappointing, but we pulled together again as a group and continued to score the penalties we need to score and we knew at one point Charlie (Farrar) would step up and made a big save and he did, which was a massive save for us."

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Charlie Farrar saved the penalty to advance the Hawks, while Tren Drexhage converted the advancing penalty kick.  Farrar posted three saves.

Harri Lovett produced his first goal of the season.  The lone goal came on an own goal.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half:

West Florida tallied two shots in the opening 10 minutes of play that sailed wide.  James Randall and London Williams posted shots on goal that were saved.

The Argonauts posted a pair of shots on frame in the 41' that Charlie Farrar denied in the process.

Tren Drexhage posted a shot in the 42' that was turned away as both teams went into the half scoreless.

Second Half:

The scoreless match would be broken in the 63' as the Hawks tallied an own goal off miscommunication to give West Florida a 1-0 lead.  90 seconds later, Charlie Farrar made a save to keep the score at 1-0.

The Argos' lead did not hold long as Harri Lovett finished off the rebound in the left corner for the equalizer in the 69'.

Aldair Anica Hernandez and Dennis Bates produced shots on frame in the latter stages of regulation.

Overtime:

West Florida notched the only two shots in the first overtime period with neither shot being on frame.

Charlie Farrar made a save in the 102' to send the contest into a shootout.

Penalty Kicks:

Harri Lovett started off the shootout with a conversion.  Sam Hall converted before Charlie Farrar made a save to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.  Toby Sims and Tren Drexhage converted before the UWF keeper made a save to even the shootout at 4-4.

Dennis Bates, Erik Ruiz, Zouhair Bettache, Wesley Illes, and Alex Espinoza converted the next five as the Argos followed suit, 9-9.

Sam Hall started off the next round with a conversion before Toby Sims, Harri Lovett, and Tren Drexhage converted to lead 13-12.  Charlie Farrar would choose correctly making the save to advance the Hawks.

UP NEXT

Chowan will take on Nova Southeastern in the NCAA Division II Third Round (Sweet Sixteen).  More details will be made available at a later time.