Andrews' overtime goal lifts Geoducks Evergreen wins its opener at nationals

November 18, 2004

OLATHE, KS -- Kyle Andrews scored 38 seconds into overtime Wednesday night to give The Evergreen State College a 2-1 victory over William Jewell (Mo.) at the NAIA men's soccer national championships.

Andrews' second goal of the game moved the Geoducks out of the first round and into a second-round match up against the defending national champion University of Rio Grande (Ohio) at 5:15 p.m. Pacific today.

"This is a great opportunity," said Evergreen coach Tom Boatright, whose 18th-seeded team improved to 15-6-0. "I think we'll play well. We tend to step up to teams that are really good."

Rio Grande (19-0-1) is seeded No. 2 in the 20-team tournament.
"About 95 percent of their players are European players, so they play a very, very high caliber of soccer," Boatright said. "We're just so excited to play them. This has been such a great experience. The boys are having a blast, and we want to keep it going."

Against William Jewell (8-9-4), the host school, the Geoducks had 22 shots on goal to the Cardinals' 11. But Boatright said Evergreen had a difficult time finishing its scoring chances.

"We didn't click offensively as well as we sometimes do, and you have to credit their defense," he said. "We can definitely play a better game."

Andrews scored with an assist from Nathan Ford 58:34 into the match to put the Geoducks up 1-0. William Jewell tied it on Jeremy Snowden's goal at 67:24.

Andrews officially was credited with an unassisted goal on his winner, a shot into the upper right corner from 30 yards, but Boatright said Greg Preciado set up the tally.

Tom Kneeshaw had five saves in goal for the Geoducks.