Warriors Fall in KCAC Opening Round

Ottawa, Kan. – The Sterling College Men's Soccer team packed up the vans and traveled to second seeded Ottawa University in the opening round of the KCAC postseason tournament. Sterling held the #7 seed and traveled to face the Braves for the second time in seven days. The first meeting favored Ottawa, who won the regular season match 2-0 over the Warriors.

It was an evenly paced first half. Sterling had opportunities but were not able to take advantage of them early. Ottawa scored the only goal of the first half in the 34^th minute and took a 1-0 lead into the halftime intermission.

The second half started well for the Warriors as they became even more aggressive and had scoring opportunities, and again were not able to capitalize. Sterling gave up an early goal in the second half making it 2-0 Ottawa. However, four goals in just over twenty minutes of game time put the game out of reach for Sterling. Sterling's KCAC and NAIA postseason hopes came to a close after just 90 minutes of play. Sterling lost the match 6-0.

Marcelo Fuentes played all 90 minutes in goal for Sterling. Stevy Kama led the Warriors in shots on goal although not able to find the net. Sterling now boasts a 9-8-2 overall record.

The postseason now turns to the NCCAA postseason opportunities. Sterling College has a dual membership between with the NAIA and NCCAA, allowing additional postseason opportunities depending on regular season performance. The opening round of the regional takes place Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 2 pm. Sterling will take on Ecclesia College once again this season. In their meeting earlier this year, Sterling took care of business with a 16-1 victory.

Be sure to check for news and updates on Sterling Warrior Athletics on Facebook (/SCWarriors), Twitter (@SterlingCSports), and Instagram (sterlingcsports), as well as the hashtag #SwordsUp. Watch the Warriors' live home events on the Sterling College Sports Network.