WICHITA, Kan. - [FINAL SITE SCHEDULE | BRACKET] The 2023 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship is now down to four teams as the Quarterfinal Round was played Thursday, November 28th at Scheel's Stryker Soccer Complex. All four remaining teams are searching for their first Red Banner as MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) and Oklahoma Wesleyan had both previously lost in the championship game while Milligan (Tenn.) and St. Thomas (Fla.) reached the semifinals for the first time in program history. 

GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS

Milligan (Tenn.) (18-2-4) defeats Bellevue (Neb.) (15-6-4), 2-1

• Milligan continued its Final Site trend of scoring first in the match, going up 1-0 in the 21^st minute
• With the ball on the end line, Albert Montragull shifted it to his right foot and lofted the ball in front of the face of the goal; Asa Kai Blake got in front of the Bellevue back line to head the ball into the ball and score his 11^th of the year
• Moments after checking into the game, Alvaro Moros Sanz knocked in the ball off the Buffaloes keeper’s deflection of Sanz initial shot
• Antonio Capra was not credited for the assist, due to the first shot attempt being saved by Adria Alles, but he created the two shot sequence for Sanz
• At the intermission, BU had a 8-3 edge in shots taken, forcing MU to lead 3-2 in saves
• Bellevue had a 2-0 margin in corner kicks and was also whistled for four more fouls
• Milligan once again went in front, just 5:21 into the second period, as Blake beat his defender down the right side and fed the ball into the box; Santiago Corral gave up the ball to his teammate Alex Panner – who had the better angle – and put the Buffs up 2-1
• Bellevue had two last chance attempts within the final 90 seconds as they desperately needed an equalizer to force overtime
• In totality, the Bruins outshot the Buffaloes 14-7, but the key difference was Milligan put six shots on goal
• Both keepers had four saves, but none more important than the impressive work by Alles (W, 12-1-4) down the stretch; Taariq Ganga (L, 14-6-4) ends his campaign with two allowed in six chances
• Inaki Moreno and Blake both put two shots on frame to lead Milligan; Sanz posted a game high three attempts for Bellevue
• The win moves Milligan into the Semifinals for the first time in program history and also marks the first Appalachian Athletic Conference men’s soccer team to be one of the last four teams left in the Battle For The Red Banner

No. 5 St. Thomas (Fla.) (18-1-3) ties No. 4 Dalton State (Ga.) (14-2-4), 1-1, advances 6-5 on shootout

• In the eighth minute, Dalton State struck gold off the corner kick from Rasmus Andersson which grazed the head of Jack Stainrod; as the ball bounced off the turf, Guilherme Franca went near post for the score
• St. Thomas tied the game on DSU own goal after Goncalo Reis launched the ball forward and the speed of Osaghae Oghogho forced the defender to misplace the ball
• The Roadrunners held a 8-4 difference in shots and a 3-1 margin in shots on goal; STU was whistled for one more foul than DSU over the first 45 minutes of play
• At the midway point of the second half, both teams had elite chances to break the 1-1 tie
• The Bobcats had a 1 v 1 with the keeper and the ball went off the post while STU keeper Franco Acerbi had one of the best saves of the tournament to date
• For the third straight day of play, the 1:00 p.m. kickoff time has resulted in a game going double overtime and then ultimately to penalty kicks
• During the first overtime, the Roadrunners recorded the only shot attempt while the second overtime was all Bobcats as they had a 2-0 advantage in attempts
• Franco Acerbi was the star of the PK period as he made his kick in the fifth round and then subsequently blocked the Dalton State attempt which set the table for the winning strike to come off the foot of STU’s Gavin Taylor
• This marks the first time in program history that St. Thomas is playing in the Semifinals
• For the full 110 minutes of play, DSU led STU 13-11 in shots and 4-1 in corner kicks
• Both sides had three total saves as Acerbi is now 13-1-2 on the year and Michael Barrueta holds a record of 10-1-2

No. 7 Oklahoma Wesleyan (17-1-5) ties Indiana Tech (14-4-6), 0-0 advances 4-2 in shootout

• Entering the game, Oklahoma Wesleyan was looking to reach the Semifinals for the third time in program history; they lost in the 2020 final to Missouri Valley and was eliminated in the semis in 2017
• The Warriors were riding the best postseason performance in team history as Indiana Tech had never won a final site game before this season
• The misty precipitation that was present for the first two Quarterfinal matches turned into a steady rain, but the synthetic turf at Scheels Stryker Soccer Complex performed fantastic
• Nearing the end of the first 45 minutes of play, the NAIA’s all-time leading scorer Stefan Cvetanovic’s shot hit the crossbar – the best of either side’s action
• Indiana Tech’s Nicola Brocca drove the ball from the left wing, in the 78^th minute, but was blocked by the OKWU defense to preserve the 0-0 score
• Heading into overtime, the Eagles led 12-5 in shots taken and 6-1 in shots on goal; both teams tallied three corner kicks attempted
• This contest was the fourth of the Final Site to head to overtime, tying the most in NAIA history (2017)
• The first OT period did not generate any shots or corner kicks by either club; Pol Mur’s attempt at 103:13 for OKWU was blocked, but was the only shot attempt in the first 18 minutes of overtime
• Inside two minutes, the Warriors had a shot attempt by Luke Jones blocked and then three corner kicks to try and end the game in regulation
• In total, the Eagles outshot IT by a 13-6 count but Indiana tech held a 7-3 edge in corners taken
• Matheus Ulrich and Luis Vergara tied for a game high three shot attempts while Tech was led by Aaron Asamoah with two
• OKWU headed to a penalty kick shootout for the second time in just over 48 hours
• Indiana Tech’s first attempt by Lucca Motta was blocked by OKWU keeper Oliver Scott
• The Warriors, down 3-2, had their fourth attempt bounce off the right post setting the table for Oklahoma Wesleyan’s Uros Aleksijevic to sink his kick

No. 14 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (15-4-4) defeats No. 6 Bethel (Ind.) (18-3-3), 2-0

• Bethel (Ind.) is the reigning NAIA National Champion and seeking a return to the semifinals for a second straight year
• MidAmerica Nazarene is seeking to progress to the semifinals for the third time in program history; they were the NAIA National Runners-up in 2015 and lost in the semis in 2012
• Ball was played in from near the corner flag by MNU’s Tom Chartier and found the head of Rick Hovinga who placed it in the left side of the goal, putting the Pioneers on top 1-0
• The 1-0 margin held through the first half, as MidAmerica Nazarene led 5-2 in shots taken and 4-1 in shots on goal; they also generated three times as many corner kicks and were whistled for twice as many fouls
• In the second half, between 53:30 and 56:45 both sides hit the post/crossbar, each of which would have changed the status of the game in dramatic fashion
• In the 62^nd minute, another golden opportunity was available for the Pioneers, one of which was negated with a superb slide tackle by the Pilots and the other when the attempt was deflected out of bounds
• Enzo Carvalho continued to save all of the attempts managed by the Pilots including Miguel Martins at 66:33, Andres Maza at 69:52, and Salifyaji Mugala in the 74^th minute
• Bethel was able to diagram a set piece just outside the 18 yard box after a MNU foul was called, but the header attempt from the Pilots went out of the boundary
• When the Pioneers had their chance for a free kick outside the box, Dennis Palacios went straight to the target but it went two feet over the crossbar
• During the final 3:58 of the game, the Pilots played down a man after an issued red card which made the process of recording a tying goal too difficult
• With 13 seconds left, Hovinga put the dagger through as he records the brace on the feed from Palacious
• MNU outshot the opposition 12-10 and 6-4 in shots on goal; they also drew six more corner kicks than the Pilots
• In between the goals, both keepers stopped four shots with Mathis Neuhaus falling to 12-4-1 with the loss and Enzo Carvalho moving to 4-2-1