The Lowdown: Kansas Wesleyan University at Friends University
Location: Adair-Austin Stadium
Kickoff: Sept. 20 @ 7:00 PM
Live Stream: https://urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/2849
Live Stats: https://friendsathletics.com/sidearmstats/msoc/summary
Flying with the Men's Soccer Falcons (0-6, 0-1, KCAC)
The Falcons suffered their second straight and third one-goal loss overall this season with a 2-1 setback to Southwestern College in the KCAC opener Wednesday evening (Sept. 17).
Andres Michael Xibilia leads the Falcons with three goals and Sora Shibata has two scores.
Juan Jose Echeverry has played 247 minutes in the net with 13 saves and a 2.91 goals-against-average for the Falcons. Arturo Pombo-Palomero has made 15 stops with a 2.80 GAA during his 225 minutes at goalkeeper.
Dish on the Coyotes (4-1-1, 1-0 KCAC)
The Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes have a record of 4-1-1 and defeated Bethel College 2-0 on the road in their KCAC opening match on Wednesday.
Mateo Hoyos has scored a team-high four goals this year for KWU, while Quatama Massaquoi and Noel Zimbeva have each scored three goals and Seth Flores leads the Coyotes with two assists.
Shae Wirt has seen all 540 minutes at goalkeeper this season and has a 1.33 GAA along with 17 saves.
The Series: The Falcons lost 1-0 at Kansas Wesleyan last year that snapped a six-match unbeaten streak in the series. Friends is 7-18-3 vs. KWU since 2004 and 4-6-1 in Wichita over that span.
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).
Ryan Palmbaum is in his first season as head coach of the Kansas Wesleyan University men's soccer program. He took over for his father Bruce, who guided the Coyotes to a runner-up finish in the KCAC last year.
Palmbaum had served as an assistant coach during both seasons of his father's tenure.
Collegiately, Palmbaum played at NCAA Division II Northern Michigan before transferring to the University of Albany, an NCAA Division I program.
He also competed professionally in Spain and Greece along with playing in professional academies in Argentina, England, Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland.
Up Next: The Falcons will wrap up their three-game KCAC opening homestand next Saturday (Sept. 27) vs. Bethany College at 1:30 pm.
Men's Soccer Falcons by the Numbers:
Overall: 0-6
KCAC: 0-1
Home: 0-3
Away: 0-3
Scoring zero goals: 0-2
Scoring one goal: 0-2
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: 0-2
Allowing three goals: 0-2
Allowing 4+ goals: 0-1
Leading at halftime: 0-0
Trailing at halftime: 0-4
Tied at halftime: 0-2
Leading in shots-on-goal: 0-0
Trailing in shots-on-goal: 0-5
Shots-on-goal are even: 0-1
