The Allen Red Devils face Neosho County Community College Thursday in the opening round of the NJCAA regional soccer tournament after qualifying with a 2-0 victory over Pratt Community College.
Despite losing two of their two of their last three games, the Red Devils (6-7-2, 2-5-1) won when it mattered the most and leap-frogged the Pratt Beavers (6-8-2, 1-7) for the final playoff spot.
Allen got on the scoreboard at the 22-minute mark, when sophomore right wing Welile Mweli found the back of the net on an unassisted goal.
Thirteen minutes later, sophomore right wing Bernard Agbavor gave the Red Devils a 2-0 advantage off a pass from sophomore defender Hugo Roca.
Thanks to a strong performance by freshman goalkeeper Race Finley, two goals was all Allen needed for the victory.
After picking up his first shutout a few weeks ago against Kansas City Kansas Community College, Finley returned to form with another shutout Saturday. On the season, he’s allowed five goals in five contests since his promotion to the varsity team. Over 90 minutes he shut down each of Pratt’s four shots on goal.
The Neosho Panthers (12-0-3, 6-0-2) enter Thursday’s contest red hot as the Jayhawk Conference champion. They are ranked third in the nation by the NJCAA.
In September, Allen tied Neosho 2-2 but earlier this month the Red Devils fell 1-0. Along with being shut out on their home field, Allen suffered additional humiliation after multiple ACC players stormed the field and incited both benches into a brawl.
Kickoff is at 6 p.m. at Neosho.
