Box Score
Kissimmee, FL – The funny thing about rankings is that – in reality – they don’t mean a thing.
The Crimson Eagles, ranked as the fifth seed in the opening round of the NCCAA II National Tournament, were – according to rankings – supposed to loose late Friday evening.
Instead, PBU waltzed into the semi-finals behind a five goal shutout effort that left fourth-seeded Southwestern Christian University stunned and out of title contention in a matter of just 90 minutes.
“I thought we played a good game and was happy with our effort tonight,” noted head coach Clay Roberts at the conclusion of the match. “We played sharp offensively and had a lot of good movement which I was definitely pleased with.”
The offensive tandem of senior Warren Scales and rookie Justin Hays was pretty much all PBU needed on a night that saw the Crimson Eagles advance to their third straight National Semi-Final contest.
Scales piled home a hat-trick while Hays pumped in two scores on his own to lead the Crimson Eagles to a relatively easy 5-0 win over the Eagles from Oklahoma. Scales and Hays each chipped in with an assist to pad their stat sheet while senior forward Jeremy Dunham added two helpers to aid in the victory.
The Crimson Eagle out shot Southwestern 17-6 for the game. Sophomore keeper Andy Ecker recorded four saves.
The win pits PBU against the top-seeded squad in the tournament – Manhattan Christian College – who came out with a 4-0 triumph over eighth seeded Johnson Bible College earlier in the day.
PBU will have their hands full, taking on a high-powered Crusader squad that scored an incredible number of 148 goals on the year while averaging almost six scores a contest. To give some perspective, Manhattan rattled off 740 shots throughout the regular season while PBU managed 282 as a team while averaging exactly two goals a contest.
The Crimson Eagles will take on the Crusaders at 4:30 pm with the winner to move on to the title bout to challenge the victor of second-seeded Southeastern University versus third-seeded Providence College.
