Clearwater Christian College CCC Campus News CCC Twitter CCC Facebook

Clearwater Wins in Shootout to Advances to National Championship Match


(11/12/10) Clearwater Christian College advanced to the NCCAA D2 National Championship match with a 5-4 shootout victory over Providence College following a scoreless draw. All 5 Clearwater shooters made their penalty kicks, with Drew Custer scoring on a clutch final kick to send the Cougars into the championship.

The Cougars came out flat in the opening minutes and Providence forward Andry Geisbrecht had an early chance that was denied by goalkeeper Anthony DeRosse. As the match wore on, Clearwater settled in and began to dominate the midfield, moving the ball well to set up a number of chances to score. The Cougars were dominant in the 2nd half, with numerous opportunities to score from close range, but they came up empty as Providence goalkeeper Kyle Perry made a number of great saves to keep his team in the match.

In overtime, the Cougars continued to press to get the game winning goal, creating great chances to finish the match on crosses, free kicks, and corner kicks but still couldn't crack the Providence defense. Providence had their best chance of the match in the first overtime as Geisbrecht hammered a shot from the right side, but DeRosse came up big with the huge save.

Following 2 overtime periods, the match went to a penalty kick shootout. After Clearwater players Juan Robayo, Jeff Crews, Adam Beam, and Tyler Spraul each buried their penalty, the door for the win was opened after the fourth Providence kick deflected off the post and set the stage for Custer's game winning kick.

For the match, Clearwater had a 20-6 advantage on shots and a 11-3 advantage on corners. With the win, Clearwater advances to the national championship match on Saturday night at 5 p.m. against Ohio Christian University, winner over Northland University 2-1 in the other semifinal. The championship match will be broadcast live by the Christian College Sports Network
.