Barclay College took to the pitch Wednesday afternoon as the #2 seed in NCCAA Division II National Soccer Tournament in Kissimmee, Florida. The Bear’s 15-1 mark entering the tournament was the best in Division II and meant that they would take on #7 Trinity Baptist College (Jacksonville, FL) for their quarterfinal match-up.

On a beautiful Florida afternoon, the Bears looked to continue their record breaking season. In the early minutes of the game, the first great opportunity to score was theirs. They were awarded a penalty kick following a foul by Trinity in the penalty box. Unfortunately, Freshman Josh Moore’s (Houston, TX) shot ricocheted off the post and the score remained 0-0. Then in the 27th minute, after several offside calls, the Eagles finally broke through and scored for a 1-0 lead. Less than two minutes later, they again out-maneuvered the Bears offsides trap and capitalized again to take a 2-0 lead into halftime.

Head Coach Kevin Lee made some critical personnel shifts coming out of the half and less than eight minutes into the period, the Bears were all knotted up with the Eagles at 2-2. Moore punched in a goal in the 51st minutes followed by a goal in the 53rd minute by Freshman Isaiah Shine (Katy, TX) who Lee had moved from defense to offense. The match was back and forth with each side developing great scoring opportunities. Once again, the Eagles were able to crack the Bears defensive formula with a goal in the 69th minute. Their lead was short lived as the Bears were awarded another penalty kick just moments later. Sophomore Melvin Lara (Katy, TX) easily knocked in the tying goal. With the score locked up at 3-3, the Bears looked to have the momentum, but the Eagles relentless attack proved fatal for the Bears as Josh Castellanos scored his fourth goal of the afternoon to seal the Bears fate and give the Eagles a 4-3 victory.

The Bears will play a consolation match on Thursday against Manhattan Christian College (Manhattan, KS) whom the Bears have previously beaten twice this year.