It was a season to remember for the Tiffin University Dragons men's soccer team.
It was also an amazing game to remember as TU hosted Rockhurst in their first ever NCAA Regional postseason game at Paradiso Fields before a crowd of 543. Unfortunately for the Dragons, after 2 hours and 39 minutes and two rounds of penalty kick shootouts, the season ended in a narrow 8-7 defeat after the two teams battled to a 1-1 tie after two overtimes.
The two teams were matched evenly throughout the game. TU's Karl Jones got them on the board first in the 29th minute, taking a pass from Edison Benda and hitting into into right side of the net on a shot from the left side to lead 1-0 at the half.
Rockhurst answered in the 53rd minute when Jon Schreiber scored off a pass from Mark Magee. TU held a 9-3 shot advantage in the second half, and a 19-13 edge overall through two overtimes, but they could not get the gamewinner as the game went to a shootout.
The two teams were tied 4-4 after the first round of 5 shooters finished from each team. After the shootout reached 6-6, Tiffin's Jeremy Ashley made a tremendous stop to give the Dragons an opening, but Rockhurst's Ryan Bass answered with his own great stop to keep the score tied. With the shootout tied 7-7, the Hawks' Michael Panarisi hit his team's final shot in for an 8-7 lead. Tiffin attempted to tie but Colin Edwards' shot did not connect as Rockhurst got the victory.
Jeremy Ashley had 3 saves over 110 minutes, allowing one goal. Tiffin finishes their season with an 11-3-4 record.
