NWAC MEN"S SOCCER PLAYOFFS: Cardinals advance to title match on golden knee

| November 16, 2014 8:00 PM

TUKWILA, Wash. - Midway through the second half, North Idaho College men's soccer coach Ken Thompson wrestled with the idea of moving defender Brady Ulen up the field in order to get a scoring chance.

And that idea was golden.

Ulen, a former Post Falls High standout, scored the golden goal in the 99th minute as the Cardinals beat the Edmonds Tritons 1-0 in a semifinal game in the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament on Saturday at the Starfire Soccer Complex.

NIC (17-1-2) advances to the championship match to face Highline (12-2-4) tonight at 5:30.

Highline beat Skagit Valley 4-1 in the other men's semifinal.

"It's really exciting," said Thompson, whose team re-joined the NWAC following a 10-year absence earlier this year. "Our guys are pumped. Edmonds did a great job the first 20 or 30 minutes and had better possession, settling the ball and knocking it around."

In the final sequence, former Lake City High standout Alec Johnson played a bender to Ulen in stride. Ulen touched the ball forward and hit it with his knee, beating Edmonds' goalkeeper Arturo Oberto.

"The more the game went on, the more Brady was moving forward," Thompson said. "When a guy was coming from the back, with or without the ball, it gives us an extra body, and Brady's generally the most athletic guy on the field. We really had trouble connecting on passes until the one we scored on."

NIC did not allow an Edmonds shot on goal in the second half, with goalkeeper Mitch Markovetz finishing with one save.

"They really didn't attack much in the second half," Thompson said. "I think their gameplan was to push for overtime and a shootout. Going into the last 20 minutes, we were toying with putting Brady up top or making the best judgment. We moved him to get forward, and he kicked a good one to win it."

First half - none. Second half - none. Overtime - 1, NIC, Brady Ulen (Alec Johnson), 99:00.

Shots on goal - NIC 6, Edm 5.

Saves - NIC, Mitch Markovetz, 1; Edm, Arturo Oberto, 3.