UPIKE Athletics

ATHENS, Tenn. – Senior forward Juan Farkas scored the only goal of regulation and then the game-clincher in penalty kicks to lead No. 5 Pikeville past No. 4 Tennessee Wesleyan 1-1 (4-2 in the shootout).
 
The game was played on Tuesday afternoon at the TWU Athletic Complex.
 
The win sent the Bears into the conference semifinals this weekend, where they will meet the winner of Tuesday night's game between top-seeded Truett McConnell (Ga.) and No. 8 Columbia International (S.C.).
 
The teams went to overtime tied at 1.
 
Both teams failed to score on their first shots. The Bears took the lead in the second when junior forward Jakub Rus scored, but sophomore goalkeeper Alejandro Iglesias turned away the attempt by junior midfielder Youssef El Hilaa.
 
Senior midfielder Alex Ward scored on the third attempt, which was answered by Bulldog junior forward Francesco Conti, putting the Bears in front 2-1 after three shots.
 
Junior defender Alex Prichard found the net on the fourth kick for the Bears, but senior forward Grant Barron kept the Bulldogs alive when he scored. The teams went to the fifth kick with UPike leading 3-2.
 
Farkas was next, and his goal gave the Bears the win, 4-2.
 
UPike scored in the first half when Farkas scored his third goal of the season. The assist went to senior forward Dylan Roberts, his third of the season. It came in the 12^th minute.
 
It was into the second half when the Bulldogs evened the score. It came in the 52^nd minute as freshman midfielder Louie Cullen scored off a pass from Barron to make it 1-1.
 
At the end of regulation, Iglesias had recorded four saves to help the Bears move to extra time. He finished with five saves.