Mustangs set school mark, advance to MCC Finals

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Senior defender Marko Urlic picked the perfect time for his first goal of the season, drilling a 35-yard direct kick in the 86th minute to break a scoreless tie and give second-seeded Mount Mercy a 1-0 victory over third-seeded Ashford in the semifinals of the Midwest Collegiate Conference Men's Soccer Tournament on Sunday at Lower Kingston Field.

There were only five shots on goal in the tough, hard-fought rematch. Mount Mercy defeated Ashford, 2-0, in their regular season matchup on Sept. 25. The Saints were ranked 25th in the NAIA at the time, and it was the Mustangs' first win over a rated squad. It was that victory that gave Mount Mercy home field advantage in today's match after the Saints and Mustangs tied for second in the MCC with 6-2 marks in league play.

Led by two of the best goalkeepers in the conference, Nick Roman of Ashford and Mount Mercy's Nenad Simovic, both defenses were terrific on Sunday. Each team had only a few real chances to score. The closest opportunity for either squad might have come midway through the second half when Mustang sophomore midfielder Vladimir Virovkic fired a shot from 30 yards out that Roman deflected off the crossbar.

That set the stage for Urlic, who set the ball down on the left side of the field about 35 yards out. A few seconds later, he drilled the kick into the top right corner of the goal, which sent the Mount Mercy bench into a frenzy with only four minutes to go in the game. The Mustangs were able to stave off Ashford's attempts to tie and moved into the MCC championship game for just the second time in school history. In fact, it was a late score by Dan Warne against Ashford (then called Mount St. Clare) in the 1999 MCC Semifinals that gave the Mustangs their other finals berth.

Mount Mercy (15-5-0), which set the school record for wins in a season today, surpassing that 1999 team that finished 14-7, will face top-seeded Grand View (17-1-0) in Thursday's title tilt at the Cownie Complex in Des Moines. The start time has not been set. The Vikings beat the visiting Mustangs, 4-1, for the MCC's regular season championship on Oct. 23 at Cownie. The winner gets the league's automatic berth in the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship, which gets underway with opening round matches on Nov. 20. The 16-team national tournament is Nov. 29-Dec. 4 in Orange Beach, Ala.