CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Case Western Reserve University won a penalty-kick shootout 5-4 over the Kenyon College men's soccer team on Friday night in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
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The Spartans converted all five of their penalty kicks and then stopped the Lords' fifth attempt to advance into the quarterfinal round of tournament. The Lords ended their season with a 18-1-3 record and winning percentage of .886, tying for the second-best single-season mark in program lore.
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Kenyon, after falling to Case 3-0 in September, came ready to battle on this evening and attained the first lead of the game.
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Nearly 10 minutes into the contest,
Brice Koval drove down the right end line and crossed a pass to
Philippe Stengel who shot into the net from the middle of the box. It was his seventh goal of the year.
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That 1-0 lead remained until 41:21. Following a Kenyon foul about 30 yards from the goal mouth, a pass from Connor Weber was met by Nathan Ekberg who headed home a shot. Exactly 90 seconds later, the home squad went ahead 2-1. A defensive miscommunication resulted in Seldon Magruder stealing the ball around the 18 and firing into an empty net.
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Kenyon had a chance with 13 seconds left to tie it up, 2-2, but a
Sam Carson header missed just wide.
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Down for the second straight contest, the Lords didn't wait long to find the equalizer. At the 54th minute,
Greg McNeer passed to
David Anderson in front of the net and watched as the NCAC Midfielder of the Year headed a shot into the net. It was his 13th goal of the season.
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Each team had a couple opportunities the remainder of the second half, however, the scored stayed 2-2.
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In the overtime sessions, the Lords outshot Case 5-1 and had a couple good looks from
Sam Hosmer-Quint and Carson but one sailed high and the latter was saved by Charlie Fink.
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Then in the penalty-kick shootout, Fink saved Kenyon's fifth attempt as he dove to the right post and blocked the shot out.