Roadrunners shut out Cumberlands, in championship match

Published 1:15 pm Monday, December 9, 2024

Before Dalton State College’s Roadrunners had even stepped on the field Saturday in the semifinals of the 2024 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship, they had made history.

The game at Wichita, Kansas’ Stryker Sports Complex, with the No. 1 ranked Roadrunners battling the fifth-seeded University of the Cumberlands out of Kentucky, marked the first time a Dalton State team had made it to the semifinal round since the soccer program’s inception in 2015.

The Roadrunners defeated Cumberlands’ Patriots 4-0 with a pair of scores in each half. The win was noteworthy as it marked the Roadrunners’ 17th shutout of the 2024 season and fourth straight in the tournament after besting Eastern Oregon in the second round, Spring Arbor in the round of 16 and Bellevue in the quarterfinals.

The Roadrunners advanced to the championship match with their undefeated streak intact, with Saturday’s win extending their record to 21-0-2. They play today against Iowa’s No. 3-ranked William Penn University, with the kickoff at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. To watch, visit https://watch.urbanedgenetwork.net/page/naia.

William Penn University secured its spot in the final game after beating Mississippi’s William Carey University in overtime 4-3.

Dalton State’s first score of the semifinal game came at the 11-minute, 10-second mark of the first half when junior defenseman Giovanni Poliero sent the ball into the net past Patriots goalkeeper Brandon Diaz.

At the first half’s 20:21 mark, junior striker Jack Stainrod overcame a Cumberlands defender on a breakout for the Roadrunners’ second goal.

Forty-nine minutes into the game, senior centerback Juan Demichelis scored the third goal off of a free kick by senior wingback Kazuma Ishizuka who had sent the ball into the 18-yard box.

Dalton State’s final goal came from senior midfielder Leonardo Seixas who sent the ball above several Cumberlands defenders and into the net with a jump kick at the 63:10 mark.

Also heavily contributing to the Roadrunners’ historic win was senior goalkeeper Nicolas Leite who had five saves in the first half. Dalton State attempted 14 shots while Cumberlands attempted eight, with all eight in the first half thanks to a tight, late-game Roadrunners defense.

Stainrod led the game with six shots, three on goal and one goal.

Cumberlands, which defeated Ohio’s University of Rio Grande, Kentucky’s Lindsey Wilson College and Kansas’ MidAmerica Nazarene University, also was making its semifinals debut. The Patriots finished the season 15-3-3.

Players who attempted shots on goal for Cumberlands included senior centerback Gerard Liao, senior midfielder Mario Fernandez Garcia and junior midfielder Fabio Galeano Bazan.