Belleville, Ill. – Tonight the Columbia College men's soccer team traveled to Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) University to take on the Lynx in an AMC Championship Semifinal match. The Cougars were able to defeat the Lynx by a final score of 4-2 and will advance to Lyon (Ark.) College in the AMC Championship Final.

The Cougars came out in the first half looking to repeat their 7-0 win over the Lynx in their regular season matchup. It did not take long for Columbia College to get on the scoreboard as Edin Campara was able to beat the Lynx keeper just six minutes into the game. The goal came after Columbia College worked the ball deep into the Lynx half before earning themselves a throw in. Dan Reilly took the throw for the Cougars and slung it into the box where the ball bounced around before finding Campara at the top of the box. Despite the ball bouncing on him, Campara was able to hit a perfect strike and ripped it into the left corner of the net for his eighth goal of the season.

The Lynx settled in as the half progressed and created several quality scoring opportunities. They were able to tie the game up at one with just under five minutes remaining in the half. Alan Uechi had the goal for Lindenwood-Belleville after beating several defenders and blasting a shot past Iain McTurk into the top corner of the net. The Lynx picked up one more quick goal before the halftime break when Yan Rodrigues stole the ball from the Cougars defense and dribbled past McTurk before sliding the ball into the back of the net to put Lindenwood-Belleville ahead 2-1.

As the players left the field and headed to their locker rooms for halftime, the fog rolled in and made it nearly impossible to see the other side of the field. Due to the visibility issues, the game was put on delay for nearly 45 minutes before the teams took the field again to resume play.

The Lynx had all the momentum going into the second half after scoring two quick goals late in the first. They nearly extended their lead to 3-1 in the first few minutes of the half when they earned a corner and played a cross into the center of the box finding the Lynx forward who was able to win the ball in the air but knocked it just wide of the goal post.

The momentum quickly turned in the Cougars favor just a few minutes later when Zachary Felz received a ball inside the box and ripped a shot off of the crossbar. The ball bounced straight down in front of the goal and Edin Campara was right there to head the ball into the back of the net to tie the game at two. Immediately following the goal, the Lynx goalkeeper was issued a red card and Lindenwood-Belleville was forced to play with only 10 men on the field.

The biggest moment of the game came with just under 20 minutes left in the second half when Juan Pablo Agredo was able break through the Lynx back line before ripping his shot into the back of the net to put the Cougars ahead 3-2 in the game. Agredo, who had just come into the game five minutes before scoring, received the ball in the middle of the field before making a long run towards the goal. His speed was too much for Lindenwood-Belleville as he was able to beat several defenders before finding the back of the net.

The Cougars went into defensive mode after taking the lead and allowed the Lynx to attack at them. However, the defense stood up to the test and never let Lindenwood-Belleville get a quality scoring opportunity for the rest of the game. Zachary Felz put the icing on the cake for Columbia College in the final three minutes of the game after finding the back of the net to put the Cougars ahead 4-2.
 
Iain McTurk was in goal tonight for the Cougars recording two saves in the match. The senior goalkeeper out of Copenhagen, Denmark, has played very well for Columbia College all season coming up with big saves in clutch moments. McTurk had one of his best games of the season in the Cougars 1-0 win over William Woods in the AMC Championship Quarterfinal match on Saturday recording three saves in the game including two big saves at the end of the game to solidify the win for the Cougars. For his efforts this past week, McTurk was named the AMC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time this season.

The Cougars are back in action on Friday, November 11^th when they take on Lyon College in the AMC Championship Final. Columbia College will look to get back at the Scots after Lyon College defeated them 1-0 in their last matchup. The game is set to begin at 6 p.m. on R. Marvin Owens Field.