Strong run for DWU men ends with playoff loss to Midland

FREMONT, Neb. – Three weeks ago few gave the Dakota Wesleyan University men's soccer team a chance to make the Great Plains Athletic Conference postseason tournament, and fewer perhaps expected them to perform the way the Tigers did when they got there.

The Tigers won three of four games to earn a spot in the tournament and got paired up with No. 2 seeded Midland University, a team that topped the Tigers 7-1 earlier in the year. The Tigers came out firing, taking the lead midway through the first half, but Midland found an equalizer early in the second and scored a heart-breaking goal with three minutes to play to top DWU 2-1. The Tigers end the 2015 season with an overall record of 6-12-1.

In his final game as a Tiger, senior defender Tyson Moodie (Pierre, S.D.) picked a great time for the first goal of his career, placing the ball over the Midland goalkeeper's head 17 minutes into the game. The goal came on an assist from Yoshi Kogiso (Cuernavaca, Mexico), his fourth of the season.

The score remained 1-0 DWU until Tom Sibbald scored on a header for Midland to tie the score. The Tigers withstood a barrage of shots from Midland, which outshot DWU 24-4 in the game, but game remained tied until the final minutes of regulation.

With three minutes left on the clock, Harrison Rogers knocked in a header off a throw in to give Midland the narrow win. Rogers also had the assist on the first Warrior goal.

The Tigers have found their goalkeeper of the future with freshman Gaston Miteff (Berazategui, Argentina) establishing himself as a stabilizing presence down the stretch for DWU. Miteff made nine saves in the loss to Midland.