Men's Soccer Falls to Detroit Mercy on late Penalty Kick

By Sebastian Montoya, Athletic Communications Intern

On a scorching Saturday, the Chicago State men's soccer team (1-1) battled it out against the University of Detroit Mercy Titans.
 
"The guys fought till the end," head coach Trevor Banks said. "Unfortunate penalty kick, but that's the game. We will get back to work and prepare for Friday night."

The Cougars came in riding a high after their thrilling win against Northwestern last Thursday and quickly opened up the scoring with a beautiful right-footed kick into the bottom-right corner by Jethro Yumange off of an assist by Gaye Diadie in just the 7th minute of the game.
 
The Cougars and Titans then went back-and-forth, continuously producing plays but neither was able to break through.
 
It wasn't until the 45th minute of the match when the Titans finally broke through and scored their first goal, courtesy of Ryan Halloran, assisted by Demetri Pliakos, bringing the score at the end of the first half to 1-1.
 
In the second half of the game, the Titans and Cougars battled stoutly for entire half, with various chances at gaining the lead, but neither squad broke through, forcing the Cougars and Titans to an overtime period.
 
In the second overtime, in the 103st minute, Detroit's Kyle Bandyk drew a penalty, which was whistled on CSU's Rashawn Kellman. Bandyk drilled the penalty-kick winner to secure a 2-1 UDM win in double overtime.
 
Goalkeeper Joe Bowles finished with two saves on the afternoon, while the Cougars also saw one shot on goal from Diadie.
 
The Cougars will next face Wisconsin-Green Bay on Friday, September 3 at 7:00 p.m.