The University News

Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Heather Sprigler Brian Perez, man of the match, scored a hat trick against Drake University.

Media Credit: Heather Sprigler John Bayron Sosa was the key man for providing assists.

With his team down 3-2 early in the second half and one of his team's elite scorers lying motionless on the turf, UMKC senior forward Caleb Mitchell had a premonition of sorts.

While trainers attended to Kangaroo senior forward Brain Harris, who collided with Drake goalkeeper Michael Drozd moments earlier, Mitchell gave a fellow teammate a reassuring message.

"I told [senior midfielder] Garret Guthrie 'I'm going to score here in the next five minutes,'" he said.

But it didn't take Mitchell nearly that long. His electrifying equalizer in the 57th minute sparked the Kangaroos to a thrilling 4-3 win Tuesday night over the 25th-ranked Bulldogs of Drake University, at Bourke Field.

Mitchell, running down the right flank, headed down a pinpoint pass from Guthrie and promptly deposited the ball into the Drake net.

"I'd been waiting for a ball like that the whole game," he said. "I was looking for the upper corner and I just put it where it needed to be."

Three minutes later, UMKC's man of the match, junior forward Bryan Perez, sealed a hat trick with a far-post blast that put the Kangaroos up for good. Perez' three-goal performance was only the fifth in UMKC history and the first since the 2004 season.

The Roos (4-3-2; 1-0 Summit League) had to dig deep to get the win against the Bulldogs. They came back from an early two goal deficit, only to fall behind again before mounting a decisive counterattack.

After the go-ahead goal, a sound defense fended off a barrage of late game sorties headed toward the UMKC net, keeping both the Kangaroo bench and the partisan crowd on edge. Senior midfielder Miguel Rodrigues, sophomore defender Matt Kopsky and Guthrie all cleared the ball out of danger at crucial times for UMKC late in the game.

Going low for his third save of the night, senior goalkeeper Ken Cooper iced the match in the contest's anxious 90th minute, giving the Kangaroos their second win over a consensus Top 25 team this season. Drake was ranked 25th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The Kangaroos shutout NSCAA number 3 ranked Creighton University 1-0 on Sept. 13.

But to see Head Coach Rick Benben shortly after the 90 minute thrill ride, carrying a cardboard box filled with his team's postgame meal to the locker room, it would appear as if his boys had just finished a routine scrimmage.

The encumbered coach did pause long enough to give a matter-of-fact assessment of the Roos performance.

"I think we're good," Benben said. "We still got a long way to go, but it's still a good win."

After a tentative start by both squads, the Bulldogs looked to make quick work of the Kangaroos, scoring two goals in the 16th and 17th minutes. Drake's junior midfielder Kevin Shrout's untenable blast from the left side of the penalty box put the visitors up 1-0. Then, with the sting of the first goal still smarting, Bulldog's freshman forward Hunter Kennedy deftly connected on a shot to the left post past Cooper to extend their advantage.

The onslaught took all of 39 seconds. The Roos, dazed and on the ropes, desperately needed to get out of a 2-0 hole.

Enter Perez. The scrappy 5-foot-8-inch leading scorer for UMKC was swift in his efforts to ease the pain and eliminate the deficit. Perez got the Roos within a point of Drake a little over a minute after the Bulldogs' second goal. Setting a free kick from UMKC sophomore midfielder John Bayron Sosa, Perez calmly turned and fired the ball toward the far post and into the back of the net.

He proceeded to knot the score on 2-2 at the 22:14 mark, off a ball feed from Sosa. After gaining possession, Perez smartly dribbled the ball around Drozd, who went to the ground trying to defend against the attack. Getting past Drozd, Perez was able to nudge the equalizer into the goal and, just like that, the Roos had new life.

But Drake came back to make it 3-2 in the 36th minute when junior midfielder Luke Gorczyca chipped a ball over Cooper's outstretched hands and just under the crossbar.

The possession leading up to the score was the subject of derision from the UMKC bench. Comparing the Drake offensive style of play as "using karate," Coach Benben reacted in verbal disgust from the sideline at the contact allowed prior to Gorczyca's tally. It appeared as if a few of the Kangaroo defenders were fouled seconds before the go-ahead goal but the game officials ruled otherwise and let the teams play on.

The matter was conveniently forgotten, however, after the resilient Roos gnashed back with goals from Mitchell and Perez. Mitchell evened the match at 3-3 at the 56:06 mark and Perez hit the gamewinner at 59:14.

Calling the match a "competitive friendship," Perez noted after the game the two teams knew each other well because they compete together in spring scrimmages and in summer leagues.

With his right eye swollen and purple from a second-half run-in with a Bulldog defender, Perez commented on his trifecta and on the game itself.

"I feel accomplished", he said. "We played hard all 90 minutes. It was a team effort."

After defeating number 3 ranked Creighton University several weeks ago, Perez was asked how this victory felt in comparison.

"This one's bigger than Creighton," he said. "Not only because we came back and won but also because we played better as a team."

dcordill@unews.com

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools