Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. — Midland University welcomed Hastings College to Fremont on Wednesday for its final regular-season game of the year. The Warriors secured the No. 2 seed in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) tournament after dominating the Broncos, 8-1.
“We put together a great performance,” head coach Josh Nakayama said. “Tonight was about the team playing and enjoying our time together.”
Just eight and a half minutes into the game, Hastings’ starting goalkeeper, Ethan Watkins, left with an injury, forcing the Broncos to turn to freshman Brogan Pfeil.
The Warriors took advantage as Colin Macke opened the scoring in the 16th minute. After receiving a through ball from Hugo Garcia-Rosado Duran, Macke held off a defender before slotting the ball past the oncoming Pfeil into the bottom-left corner to give Midland a 1-0 lead.
Hastings responded in the 20th minute after earning a corner kick. The Broncos executed a well-designed set piece that led to a free header by their leading goal scorer, Tim Berger, who buried it into the back of the net for his 12th goal of the season, leveling the match at 1-1.
Midland regained control as halftime approached. In the 32nd minute, a cross from Matus Vilna deflected off a defender for an own goal, putting the Warriors ahead 2-1. Garcia-Rosado Duran doubled the lead just three minutes later when Juan Villadiego won the ball back in the attacking third and played him through. Garcia slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 3-1.
The Warriors struck again in the 43rd minute. Sid Gunton-Day played a long ball from defense to Dinis Ribeiro, who took a perfect first touch before backheeling a pass to Tsubasa Abe. Abe drove down the flank and sent a cross into the box for Villadiego, who blasted it home to give Midland a 4-1 halftime lead.
Just after the break, Hastings’ troubles continued. Garcia broke free on goal before being brought down by Sebastian Palmer just outside the box, resulting in a red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity. Garcia stepped up to take the free kick from about 23 yards out and buried it into the bottom-left corner for his second goal of the match and 16th of the season, extending Midland’s lead to 5-1.
With 10 minutes remaining, Yoshiki Fujisawa found space in the box after a pass from Ribeiro, finishing calmly for his first collegiate goal. Jamie Jerez added another three minutes later, dribbling past two defenders before firing into the top-right corner. Finally, in the 87th minute, Adriano Pelloni capped the scoring to make it 8-1 as the Warriors clinched the No. 2 seed in the GPAC tournament.
Offensively, Midland outshot Hastings 29-8, holding the Broncos to just one shot in the second half. Tomas Reyes made two saves on three shots in nearly 85 minutes of action, while Sean Beatty played the final five minutes without facing a shot.
“We are so excited for the next challenge, and we’ll keep fighting to go as deep as we can into the postseason,” Nakayama said.
The Warriors will host No. 7 seed Briar Cliff in the GPAC tournament quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at Heedum Field in Fremont.
