The Golden Hurricane men’s soccer team has earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with their third straight victory in the American Athletic Conference Championship.
In the semifinals, No. 2 seed Tulsa faced the UConn Huskies, the No. 3 seed. Early on, Juan Sanchez scored his second goal of year with a nice piece of dribbling before getting his shot past the goalkeeper. Tulsa took the 1–0 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Matt Puig finished off a nice team play with Sanchez and Rollie Rocha to double the Golden Hurricane lead. The defense held strong to secure the victory at the 2–0 score.
No. 1 seed USF defeated No. 4 seed UCF in overtime to earn a matchup in the finals against Tulsa.
The championship game was very even throughout. Neither team was able to convert any chances in the first half, leading into a crucial second half of play. USF struck first, scoring five minutes into the second half. Tulsa responded midway through the half, as Sanchez scored for the second game in a row to knot the score.
The remainder of regulation and the ensuing two overtime periods were scoreless, leading the teams into a penalty kick shootout to decide the champion. Tulsa goalkeeper Jake McGuire was the hero, making two saves to give Tulsa a 4–2 penalty kick victory.
With the championship win, Tulsa clinched the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and will find out their opponent later this week.
