Judson men handle St. Xavier in semifinal

Almost a week after Judson University's men's soccer team defeated St. Xavier for the CCAC championship, the two faced off again in the NAIA Region VII semifinal match in Burlington, Iowa Monday.

In another knockdown-dragout match, JU came away with a 3-1 win. Judson (14-4-3) now advances to their fourth straight NAIA Region VII championship match and will face St. Ambrose at 1 p.m. today.

Both teams had to face another challenge on the day with a 45 mph wind. SXU (9-12) had the wind at its back for the first half and took advantage of it in the 21st minute when Sinisa Vidakovic boosted a shot in from the top of the box that curved into the net. The Cougars were out shot by JU, 5-2, but both shots for SXU were on goal with one scoring.

Saint Xavier led for most of the match until the final 14 minutes when Judson exploded for 3 goals in less than seven minutes. The Eagles kept the offensive pressure on in the second half by taking 15 shots but could not find the net until late in the match.

Finally, Judson's patience paid off. Aduato Oliveira gave the Eagles the spark as he came out of nowhere to score the first 2 goals. His first, in the 78th minute, snuck into the goal as he was surrounded by defenders and just slipped it by the goalie on the right side. Just four minutes later, he received the ball from Milos Bajic on a breakaway and then beat SXU's Ian Pickett one-on-one for the second goal to make it 2-1. Mark Howlett then made it 3-1 on a penalty kick in the 85th minute for his 14th goal of the year.

No. 2 seed Judson will now face top-seeded St. Ambrose, which defeated Olivet Nazarene 5-0 in the other semifinal.