(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 2)—Junior goalkeeper Santiago Hampton (Buenos Aires, Argentina/St. George's) (Buenos Aires, Argentina) collected his fourth shutout of the season as the McKendree College men’s soccer team opened the 2006 American Midwest Conference Play-In Tournament with a 2-0 victory Thursday at home against the University of Illinois-Springfield.

 

The Bearcats notched their fifth consecutive win in AMC Play-In Tournament action to improve to 11-6-2 on the year. McKendree advances to Saturday’s championship round to face top-seeded Missouri Baptist University. The Spartans defeated William Woods University in Thursday's other semifinal contest, 5-0. Saturday's game is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Soccer Park in St. Louis.

 

“We played hard today,” said McKendree soccer coach Tim Strange. “The guys came out ready to play, and we created a lot of chances early in the game. We wanted to keep the pressure on, and we feel like we did that.”

 

McKendree opened the scoring in the 42^nd minute when senior forward Nicolas Mosca (Buenos Aires, Argentina/San Luis Gonzaga) (Buenos Aires, Argentina) took a crossing pass in the middle of the box from junior forward Jarius Holmes (O' Fallon, Ill./O' Fallon) (O’Fallon, Ill./O’Fallon) and slid it past Illinois-Springfield keeper Chance Walker for a 1-0 lead. The Bearcats added an insurance goal early in the second half, when junior midfielder Gareth Batchelor (Southampton, Hampshire/Tauntons) (Southampton, England) scored on a penalty kick in the 52^nd minute of play.

 

Hampton held the Prairie Stars in check the entire contest, making seven saves, including point-blank stops in each half. Hampton pushed his overall record to 7-3-1 with the victory. For Illinois-Springfield, Walker made seven saves as the Prairie Stars close out the season at 8-6-3 overall.

 

McKendree held an 18-11 edge in shots against the Prairie Stars.