The Gustavus Adolphus men's soccer team defeated Colorado College, 3-2, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship Saturday evening in Chicago.
 
The Gusties improved to 18-3 this season and advanced to the second round against North Park University on Sunday. The Tigers, appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012, saw their season come to an end with a 14-7 mark.
 
Gustavus Adolphus took a 1-0 lead in the 31^st minute when Cole Schwartz took a pass from Matthew Gibbons and ripped a shot from the top of the box that got past CC goalie Keller Mochel and clipped the inside of the left post
 
Scott Heinen doubled the lead for Gustavus in the 37^th minute by jumping into the play and placing a shot from 18 yards out to the upper right corner.
 
The Tigers cut the lead in half with just 20 seconds remaining in the first half when Sam Bermingham headed a free kick from Will Mallory past GAC goalie Wesley Sanders for his eighth tally of the season.
 
The Gusties reclaimed a two-goal lead in the 57^th minute when Gibbons sent a corner kick to the far post and Cody Billiins headed the ball down and the ball bouned past Mochel.
 
CC had a golden opportunity to cut the lead back to one when the ball hit Billins' hand while in the box with 26 minutes remaining in the second half, but Griffin Meyer sent the penalty kick just wide of the left post.
 
Kiran Singh did cut the lead to 3-2 with 4:42 remaining in the second half by flicking the ball past Sanders during a scrum in front of the Gustavus net, but despite pushing forward the rest of the way, the Tigers could not connect on the equalizer.
 
Head Coach Scott Palguta's Thoughts
"It was a disappointing result today. We thought we played very well. We won the game in between the 18-yard boxes."
 
"We didn't give them much, but they took what they got. We got down 2-0 but did a great job of clawing back and getting the goal right before halftime was critical and gave us some momentum."
 
"The missed penalty kick was obviously a factor but our guys just kept going and going. We are super proud of our performance, we asked them to empty their tank and each and every guy out there did that tonight."
 
Colorado College Notes
The Tigers outshot Gustavus Adolphus 11-8
CC held a 10-3 advantage in corner kicks
Griffin Meyer led the Tigers with three shots
 
Gustavus Adolphus Notes
Cole Schwartz led the Gusties with three shots
Matt Gibbons had a pair of assists
GAC held a 7-5 advantage in shots on goal