FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 8^th, 2023
 
Springfield, Ore. | The Knights unfortunately tied College of Idaho today 1-1 in full time and then lost the right to advance to the CCC Championship game in penalty kicks 5-4.
 
The Yotes broke the ice today scoring the first goal of the match in the 11^th minute by Jorge Fernandez assisted by Pol Romero. The game was then an old fashioned defensive battle while the Knights tried to tie the match. The Knights had a few great chances at tying the game but the Yotes goalkeeper, Tom Baynard-Smith and the rest of the Yotes defense kept the Knights out of the net.
 
The Knights continued to fight and claw until they themselves had a turn to celebrate after an absolutely beautiful goal was put in by Hunter Leach on a gorgeous penalty shot sent in by Miguel Andalon-Ordaz to knot the game up at one apiece. From then on, the game became a physical one as the intensity ratcheted to a fever pitch. The match saw ten yellow cards handed out. College of Idaho had 7 and the Knights had 3.
 
The game ended in a 1-1 tie and then the match went to PK's to determine who would go to the CCC Championship Game to take on Southern Oregon who had won in full time against Oregon Tech 4-2 in their semifinal game. In PK's unfortunately, the Knights were on the short end of the stick losing 5-4. It was a gut-wrenching defeat to say the very least but it was a well fought match and unfortunately only one team could move on.
 
"I couldn't be more proud of our team for the way we competed throughout the entirety of our season which was again on display tonight," Head Coach Troy Ready said. "Our starting 3 attacking players all went out of the game in the second half due to injuries and yet we equalized and continued to create the best chances for getting a game winner. This group has gone 13 straight matches undefeated, finished second in an incredibly strong conference and didn't advance to the Finals due to a penalty-kick shootout. We have been building momentum all year, and playing exceptional soccer and I believe are more than deserving to be given an At-Large bid for the National Tournament. We'll have to wait until the selection show on Monday to be certain, but finishing 13-3-3 where we took points in 16 out of the 19 games is extremely impressive and should be rewarded. I truly love these young men and am so honored to be their coach."
 
Next Up
The Knights will await their fate come Monday when the selection show is slated to happen.