DELRAY BEACH, Florida -- Senior Prince Idornigie gave No. 8 seeded WVU Tech a lead at minute 25 and the Golden Bears kept that momentum, cruising to a 2-1 victory over No. 9 MidAmerica Nazarene in the second round of the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship Monday afternoon at the Seacrest Soccer Complex.
The Golden Bears, who were ranked No. 9 in the nation (NAIA DI) entering the tournament, improved to 18-2-2 with the win and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. Head coach John Dunn's squad will face No. 1 Hastings College, who advanced off of PK's against No. 16 Marymount California College, on Wednesday at 11 a.m. in Delray Beach, Florida.
The Pioneers, who were ranked No. 7 in the last NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll and were last season's national championship runners-up, finished their 2016 campaign 16-4-1.
Idornigie collected a perfectly placed crossing pass from the left side by junior Francisco Neto and fired a header past MNU goalkeeper Yann Passet for a 1-0 lead.
Just six minutes later, Neto sent another cross, this time connecting with freshman Ignacio Tellechea who found the back of the net off a header for Tech's winning goal.
MidAmerica Nazarene's Tanner Hunjak posted the Pioneers lone goal off a penalty kick in minute 72.
The Gold and Blue managed ten shots compared to the Pioneers' 22 shots. MNU also held the advantage on corner kicks, 9-4.
Senior goalkeeper Hunter Moles had eight saves in 90 minutes and was credited his 18th win of the season. Passet marked three saves in the loss.
