Raiders edge Kingsbury

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The top-ranked Cleveland soccer team was pushed to the brink of elimination by Memphis Kingsbury in the Class AAA soccer tournament Wednesday.

An extra 20 minutes was needed, but Blue Raiders junior Wes Llosa came through with the winning goal in the second overtime, pushing the Raiders into the state semifinals with a 2-1 win over the Falcons.

The Raiders (20-0-3) advance to the semifinals, where they will face second-ranked Farragut (21-2-2), a 1-0 winner over Hendersonville.

The physical Falcons pushed Cleveland around the field, but the Raiders pushed back. The results were a total of 41 fouls called, with seven yellow cards issued to the two teams.

“We’re definitely not the most physical team in the world and have had trouble with physical teams before,” Cleveland coach John Brose said. “They took us out of our short game, but at this point, we grinded it out, got a win and can learn from what happened.”

Kingsbury (13-5) came out unfazed by Cleveland’s No. 5 national ranking, outplaying the Raiders early in the game.

“I don’t know. Maybe it was nerves,” Brose said.

Cleveland finally put some offense together, and Robby Marcum sent a pass across the box that Vance Griffith knocked in to give the team a 1-0 advantage at the 18:08 mark of the first half.

The Falcons kept pressing, and with 31:35 left in regulation, Fakhry Khulkan was fouled in the box, giving Kingsbury a penalty kick opportunity. Francisco Diaz scored to tie the game at 1.

In the overtime, Cleveland’s Adam Martin chipped a shot that glanced off the crossbar — the Raiders’ third such shot of the game.

The second overtime included yellow cards for Khulkan and Cleveland goalkeeper Adam Gonzales after the Kingsbury midfielder ran into Gonzales and the two exchanged words. Moments later, Sias Reyneke fed a lead pass to Llosa, who scored the winner on a one-touch with 3:34 remaining.

“It was not our best game, but we have to move on, come back and hope to see the team we had coming into the game,” Brose said. “I can’t take anything away from Kingsbury. They played great, but our heart and desire was there.

“We were faced with adversity and came through.”