After 90 minutes of regulation, 30 minutes of overtime play, and the first five penalty kicks of a shootout, the Thunder of Manhattan Christian (Manhattan, KS) and the Bears were still all knotted up. Freshman Josh Hernandez (Houston, TX) had just missed the Bears first penalty kick of the shootout and all Manhattan had to do was capitalize on one last shot for the win, but Freshman Goalkeeper David Hernandez (Atascadero, CA) came up with his biggest save of the year. Immediately following D. Hernandez’s save, Freshman Josh Moore (Houston, TX) connected and the Thunder player sailed his free kick high and the Bears advanced to the 5th place game at the NCCAA Division II National Soccer Tournament in Kissimmee, FL.

In regulation, the first goal didn’t come until the 74th minute when Manhattan Christian found the back of the net. The score looked like it would remain 1-0, but the Midwest Christian College Conference MVP Junior Kingsley Assibey (Accra, Ghana) muscled in a tying goal with only 53 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Overtime produced no goals and both teams prepared for a shootout to decide the winner. Assibey, Sophomore Melvin Lara (Katy, TX), Freshman Julio Cobo (Katy, TX), Freshman Isaiah Shine (Katy, TX) and Freshman Tyler Wright (Mulvane, KS) all connected on their free kicks to keep pace with Manhattan. That is when D. Hernandez came up with his goal saving heroics and the Bears prevailed in an epic shootout.

On Saturday morning at 9:00 AM EST, the Bears (16-2, 5-0) will concluder their 2014-15 season in the 5th place consolation match.