Box Score Columbia, Mo. – This afternoon the Columbia College men's soccer team was back in action when they played host to the Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) University Trojans in the AMC Semifinals. The Cougars, who defeated Williams Baptist (Ark.) College 3-0 on Saturday, were able to defeat the Trojans by a final score of 2-1 to improve to 16-2-2 on the season and 11-0-1 against AMC opponents.
Prior to the match, the NAIA national office announced the final NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll for the 2017 regular season. The Cougars, who ranked 17th in the last poll, moved up two spots to 15th after going 1-0 since the last poll was released.
Columbia College came out in the first half and took an early 1-0 lead just three minutes into the contest. Michael Mayberry had the goal for the Cougars as he was able to head in a cross from Nick Horne for his seventh goal of the season. Columbia College was back at it again just seven minutes later when Nick Horne received the ball at the top of the box before beating several defenders and putting his shot just under the crossbar for his fifth tally of the season to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead. The Trojans did their best to get back into the game before the halftime break but were unable to find the back of the net as the score remained 2-0.
Columbia College came out in the second half and applied pressure to the Trojans defense early in the period. They were able to create several scoring opportunities as the half progressed but could not take advantage of their opportunities as the score remained 2-0 midway through the half. Despite being down, the Trojans battled back and were able to cut the Cougars lead to 2-1 with 12 minutes remaining in the game but that was as close as they would get as Columbia closed them out down the stretch to advance to the AMC Finals.
Nicolau Neto was in goal for Columbia as the senior made one save in the victory.
The Cougars are back in action on Friday, November 10th when they play host to the Central Baptist (Ark.) College Mustangs in the AMC Finals. Columbia College defeated the Mustangs in their last matchup by a final score of 2-1 and will look to do that same on Friday. The game is set to start at 5 p.m. on R. Marvin Owen's Field.
