Thomas Men's Soccer Postgame Report - Johnson & Wales

THOMASVILLE, Ga. - Jesper Svall scored two goals Saturday afternoon, lifting No. 3-seed Thomas to a 2-1 win over No. 6-seed Johnson & Wales (Fla.) at TU Soccer Complex in The Sun Conference Men's Soccer Championship quarterfinals, presented by Commerce Bank. Coach Ricky Zambrano's squad improves to 5-0-1 in its last six games against league foes, 4-1 (including four-straight victories) all-time in the quarterfinal round and 6-0-1 all-time against the Wildcats.

"Hats off to Johnson & Wales. They're a good team, but unfortunately (for them) someone obviously has to advance," Zambrano said.

Thomas (8-7-2) scored the first two goals of the match, starting in the fourth minute when Leo Thompson played a long pass to Svall who beat a Johnson & Wales (7-6-2) defender then netminder J.C. Diego at the top of the 18-yard box. Svall (2) struck again in the 35th minute when he buried home a Malcom Frago Mayers corner kick that deflected off Salvador Marin.

"(On) the first goal, I just saw Leo taking a run. It was like a rebound, I picked it up, and from there, I was on autopilot and finished," Svall said. "(On) the second one, I saw Salva turning on the corner, so I backed up, got the ball and the first thing in my head was just hit it, and it ended up being a goal."

Youri Derine (1) cut the Night Hawks' lead in half in the 65th minute when his shot deflected slightly off a Thomas defender and into the back of the net from seven yards out, but the Wildcats mustered only two shots down the stretch and picked up three red cards in the final 4:24 to thwart a comeback and send coach Zambrano's team onto the semifinals at No. 2-seed Keiser (Fla.), which is receiving votes in the latest top 25, on Tuesday, Nov. 7. 

Svall and Thompson each had two shots on goal.

Five Johnson & Wales' players had one shot on goal apiece in defeat.

Goalkeeper Lee Howarth (6-3-1) made four saves in 90 minutes for the triumph.

Diego (1-2-2) had three stops in 90 minutes.

Thomas outshot the Wildcats, 16-15. Each team had four corner kicks.

A total of 33 fouls were called between the two teams, including 10 cautions, with seven coming from the visitors.