Box Score I
Box Score (.pdf)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In what boiled down to a de facto Summit League regular season title match, the IUPUI men's soccer team yielded a late goal and dropped a 1-0 decision to UMKC at Durwood Stadium on Saturday afternoon. UMKC's Jimmy Simon netted the game-winner with just 6:54 left to play, sending the host Kangaroos to the 2010 regular season title.
The loss was IUPUI's first since a 2-0 defeat at Oral Roberts on Oct. 9.
"It was kind of like Frazier/Ali 1," IUPUI Head Coach
Steve Franklin said. "It was an old school Mid-Con match where both teams were trying to win the ball in the midfield. Hopefully we see them again, and that means that we'd have to take care of business in the (Summit League Tournament) semis."
Simon, who had just come back on the field, received a pass on a give-and-go and drilled a shot past junior goalkeeper
Tyler Keever into the top left corner of the net for his seventh score of the season.
The goal came just after IUPUI (9-7-1, 4-2 Summit) had just missed a pair of opportunities. Sophomore
Brock Brungard nearly put the Jaguars on top in the 76th minute, but had his shot go just wide of the left post.
"Brock got in on them, but probably took one touch too many," Franklin said.
IUPUI's only shot on frame came in the 74th minute when Ken Cooper stopped a header by senior
Derek Craig. UMKC (10-4-2, 4-0-1 Summit) outshot IUPUI 19-5 overall and 6-1 on frame.
"There was a big discrepancy in shots, but that's because we held onto the ball too much in the attacking third," Franklin said. "We just didn't pull the trigger."
Keever made four saves in his first game action since Oct. 9.
"Keever played solid. There wasn't much he could do on the goal," Franklin said. "Today, we thought we really needed his distribtion and his energy back there. This is one of the biggest fields we play on, so his ability to punt the ball and distribute played a big role in him getting the start.
"It wasn't as though Alex (Mannen) lost the job - we just wanted Keever's distribution and his chirping back there in net."
Despite a flat start, the IUPUI defense held UMKC's John Bayron Sosa in check for most of the match, limiting him to just three shots.
"We were flat in the first half and that's why you saw every defender that made the trip, on the field in the first half," Franklin said. "
Joe Meyer and
John Jordan both got some time back there and gave us some life. For the most part though, we were the second person to the ball and didn't compete in the air."
Simon led all players with six shot attempts, putting three on frame.
IUPUI will wrap up the regular season on Wednesday, Nov. 3 when it hosts Bowling Green State in non-conference action at Kuntz Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m..