The Bruins were bounced from the NCCAA DII South Region Tournament on Thursday night as the team fell to #2 seeded Trinity Baptist College 3-1. Sebastian Sulik scored the lone goal for the Bruins as the team will make the trip back to Greenville empty-handed.
"Them scoring a goal at the end of the first half put us in a bad spot," Bruins Head Coach Jesse McCormick said. "We worked to create chances in the second half offensively and they just hurt us on the counter."
The Bruins entered the region playoffs as the #3 seed in the tournament. Earlier this year, the Bruins had knocked off the then #1 nationally ranked Eagles in a 1-0 overtime thriller. The team knew that it was a win or go home situation as the two teams took the pitch.
In the early stages, both teams adjusted to the windy conditions as the gusts forced teams to play conservatively. Passes were short and runs quick as the Eagles and Bruins both had chances early on. The game was physical on both sides as two cautions were given throughout the first forty-five minutes of play.
As the first half was coming to a close, the score remained locked at 0-0. The Eagles got a big momentum boost as they scored with just eight minutes remaining in the first half to go up 1-0. Jeremie Tilus got a run up the outside and bent in a centering pass to the feet of Joseph Nava who finished the play to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead at the half.
The Bruins came back out on the pitch to begin the second half knowing they needed to find an answer. Instead, the Eagles stretched their lead as Nathan Williams scored just minutes into the half to make the score 2-0.
With their backs against the wall, the Bruins came roaring back looking to get on the board. The team couldn't find a sustained offensive attack as the Eagles defense turned aside scoring attacks. With less than 15 minutes to play, the Bruins pushed hoping to find a goal. Instead, the Eagles used a quick counter to extend their lead 3-0 with just under 13 minutes to play.
The Bruins were able to prevent the shutout as Sebastian Sulik scored on a beautiful bending shot to make the score 3-1. Unfortunately, it was too little too late as the final buzzer handed the Bruins a 3-1 loss.
Both teams had equal shots as they finished 12-12 on the stat sheet. The Eagles did have a slight advantage in shots on goal with a 7-4 margin. Sulik's goal was his fifth of the season for the team.
With the loss, the Bruins will await the decision by the NCCAA committee as to the at-large bid. The committee will weigh the results of the other region tournaments with the four region winners automatically making the tournament. The committee will then vote on the final two spots among the at-large teams.
