The Lowdown: Southwestern College at Friends University
Location: Adair-Austin Stadium
Kickoff: Sept. 17 @ 5:00 PM
Live Stream: https://urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/2848
Live Stats: https://friendsathletics.com/sidearmstats/msoc/summary
Flying with the Men's Soccer Falcons (0-5, 0-0, KCAC)
The Falcons have begun the 2025 season with five straight tough setbacks and are looking for their first victory tonight as they open conference action vs. Southwestern. The Falcons last match was a 3-2 loss to Southwestern Christian University last Friday night (Sept. 12) when the Eagles scored with just five minutes left to snap a 2-2 gridlock.
Friends has scored five goals on the year, three by Andres Michael Xibilia and the other two from Sora Shibata.
Juan Jose Echeverry has played 247 minutes in the net and has made 13 saves with a 2.91 goals-against-average for the Falcons. Arturo Pombo-Palomero has made 12 stops with a 3.33 GAA during his 135 minutes at goalkeeper.
Dish on the Moundbuilders (3-2, 0-0 KCAC)
The Southwestern College Moundbuilders are 3-2 overall and won their past two matches by a combined 8-0 over Randall University (3-0) and Central Baptist College (5-0).
Jack Bagley-Etheridge is tops on the Builders in both goals (seven) and assists (two) this season.
KJ Masso has seen all 450 minutes in the net for Southwestern and has tallied a 1.60 GAA with 27 saves and two shutouts.
The Series: The Falcons have dominated the matches on record vs. the Builders, winning 20 times against just one loss and one draw. The tie came in last year's meeting, a 2-2 gridlock in Winfield, Kan. Friends is 9-1 vs. Southwestern in Wichita, last losing to the Builders at home 1-0 during the 2016 season.
KCAC Opener History: Friends is 3-2 in its last five KCAC season opening matches after dropping last year's first conference match 1-0 at Tabor. The Falcons had won three straight KCAC openers prior to last year's setback.
The Coaches:
Bryan Perez is in his fifth season as head coach of the Friends University men's soccer program.
Last year, Perez coached three All-KCAC players and led the Falcons to a 6-4-3 record in the KCAC.
During the 2023 campaign, Perez guided the Falcons to a 9-6-5 overall record and a 7-2-4 mark in the KCAC. The Falcons advanced to the KCAC postseason tournament semifinal round and had top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan University on the ropes, but OKWU tied the score with 16 seconds left in regulation and pulled out a 3-2 win in double-overtime.
In 2022, the Falcons finished fifth in the league after coming in as the third seed in Perez's debut season as head coach.
In his first season in 2021, Perez helped the Falcons to a 12-4-1 overall record, including winning 12 of their final 15 matches.
In his first season with the program as an assistant coach, Perez helped the Falcons capture the KCAC tournament championship and achieve the program's first NAIA National Tournament berth since the 2007 season.
Perez was recently named the head coach of FC Wichita, a local men's soccer amateur team that is a member of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). He also functions as the Technical Director for the program.
Prior to taking his position at FC Wichita, Perez served as the Director of Coaching for Alliance FC in Kansas City, where he led the coaches and developed the soccer curriculum.
His professional playing career includes competing six years for the Kansas City Comets, an indoor soccer team in the Major Arena Soccer League. He led the Comets to a pair of championships, including an undefeated season in 2015.
He was also called to play for the United States Men's National Futsal team for their 2012 and 2016 World Cup Qualifying teams.
Perez played collegiately at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and enjoyed a standout career that resulted in him being inducted into the school's athletic Hall of Fame in 2017.
He wrapped up his playing career at UMKC as the team's all-time leader in goals (29), points (70) and games played (78).
Perez was a four-time All-Summit league performer, including earning first-team honors on three occasions.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from UMKC in 2010 and currently resides in Wichita with his wife Jamie and two children, Mila (seven) and Enzo (four).
Lee Howarth is in his third season as head coach of the Southwestern College Moundbuilders. Previously, Howarth was a graduate assistant coach for both the Southwestern men's and women's soccer programs.
Last year, Howarth guided the Builders to their most points in school history.
Howarth played collegiately at Thomas University and was a two-time all-conference performer while helping the program win a regular season conference championship.
His playing career also includes competing for academy teams in England, such as Reading FC, Watford FC, and Milton Keynes Dons.
Up Next: The Falcons will remain at home and host Kansas Wesleyan University Saturday night (Sept. 20) at 7 pm at Adair-Austin Stadium.
Men's Soccer Falcons by the Numbers:
Overall: 0-5
KCAC: 0-0
Home: 0-2
Away: 0-3
Scoring zero goals: 0-2
Scoring one goal: 0-1
Scoring two goals: 0-2
Scoring three goals: 0-0
Scoring 4+ goals: 0-0
Allowing zero goals: 0-0
Allowing one goal: 0-1
Allowing two goals: 0-1
Allowing three goals: 0-2
Allowing 4+ goals: 0-1
Leading at halftime: 0-0
Trailing at halftime: 0-3
Tied at halftime: 0-2
Leading in shots-on-goal: 0-0
Trailing in shots-on-goal: 0-4
Shots-on-goal are even: 0-1
