Morningside rallied from a 1-0 deficit with two goals in the last 9:22 to stay alive in the GPAC Men’s Soccer Tournament.

Joao Soares

Joao Soares scored two goals in the final 9:22 of play to lift Morningside to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory against Doane in Thursday’s GPAC Men’s Soccer Tournament Quarterfinal at Elwood Olsen Stadium.

Soares tallied the game winner with just 31 seconds left in the contest to keep the Mustangs’ season alive.

The Mustangs will take a 14-4-1 record into a GPAC Semifinal against second ranked Hastings slated for Tuesday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. in Hastings, Neb.

Morningside is one win shy of a school record with its 14 triumphs. The Mustangs went 15-8 in 2004 for the most victories in the history of the program.

Morningside found scoring to be much more difficult in Thursday’s rematch after the Mustangs had trounced the Tigers 5-1 when they met during the regular season on Oct. 15 in Sioux City.

The Tigers played a man short over the final 51 minutes after they lost their second leading scorer, Zak Stevenson, to a red card ejection late in the first half.

Tim Erdmann

The teams played to a scoreless standoff in the first half and for the first 16 minutes of the second half before the Tigers’ Mark Wallace scored his sixth goal of the season on a free kick at the 61-minute mark.

Morningside tied the score when Soares scored a goal off an assist from Corsin Bundi with 9:22 left in the contest and then won it when Soares tallied his second goal of the night with just 31 seconds left. The game winner was set up by an assist from Sebastian Schoon.

Soares raised his season’s tally to 13 goals for the fourth highest single season total in Morningside history. Soares tied a Morningside single-game post-season record with his two goals, equaling a mark first set by current Mustang assistant coach Brandon Wylie against Hastings in 2004 and matched by Hogan Cemper against Briar Cliff in 2009.

Mustang goal keeper Tim Erdmann came up with three saves, while Nishesh Yadav had four saves for the Tigers.

Morningside outshot the Tigers 14-6, including an 8-2 margin in the second half.

Box Score