Men's Soccer 11/3/2026 7:31:00 AM

Men’s Soccer Gameday Preview: Road to the KCAC Tournament Title begins at home for top-seeded Falcons

Photo Credit: Landon Thweatt

The Lowdown: Kansas Wesleyan University at Friends University

Location: Adair-Austin Stadium

Kickoff: Nov. 3 @ 7:00 PM

Live Stream: https://kcacnetwork.com/friends/

Live Stats: https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/msoc/2026-27/conf/KCAC/Box_Scores/20261103_11cv.xml

Tickets: https://events.hometownticketing.com/boxoffice/kcac/L2VtYmVkL2V2ZW50LzUzMQ%3D%3D?_ga=2.71474640.2139192565.1793134637-504930412.1755806170

Flying with the Falcons (14-3-1, 12-1 KCAC)

The Falcons are coming off a thrilling 3-2 Senior Day victory over McPherson, where some late-game heroics helped Friends close out the regular season on a high note. Jose Quiel opened the scoring with a penalty kick before senior midfielder Fernando Suarez Picatoste doubled the Falcons' lead off an assist from Ben Scognamillo.

McPherson refused to go away quietly, responding with two unanswered goals to send the match into halftime tied at 2-2. Both teams battled throughout the second half, but it was Diego Marin who delivered the deciding blow. With just 39 seconds remaining in regulation, Marin found the back of the net to give Friends a dramatic Senior Day victory.

Friends enters the KCAC postseason tournament as the No. 1 overall seed after dominating conference play with a 12-1 record. The Falcons have also been nearly unbeatable at Adair-Austin Stadium, posting a perfect 8-0 home record during the 2026 campaign. With home-field advantage secured, Friends will look to carry its regular-season success into postseason play.

Falcons have had a very balanced team with an energetic offense and two very sound goalkeepers.

The Falcons are tied for fifth in the nation in scoring, having netted 63 goals in 18 matches this season. While the Friends offense has been firing on all cylinders, the Falcons have been just as impressive on the defensive side of the ball.

Goalkeepers Cameron Stout and Keagan Lewis have split time in goal, each appearing in nine matches and combining for a 1.06 goals-against average (GAA). The duo has also recorded 10 shutouts this season, setting a new program record for the most shutouts in a single season in the modern era of Friends men's soccer. The last team in program history to have this many shutouts in a season was the 2007 and 2009 teams with eight.

Offensively, the Falcons have been led by three double-digit goal scorers this season. Diego Marin (13), Austin Wyn Davies (12) and Jose Quiel (11) have been key contributors to a Friends attack that ranks among the nation's best. Quiel has also been nearly unstoppable from the penalty spot, converting all six of his attempts this season and making opposing teams pay for their mistakes.

Dish on the Coyotes (9-8-1, 5-7-1 KCAC)

Cody Bartlow the head coach for the Coyotes snuck into the eight spot in the KCAC tournament with a 2-2 tie against Avila over the weekend. KWU had the tiebreaker over Tabor who was also in the hunt to make the tournament.

Juan Manuel Lozada Leon leads the Coyotes in scoring putting 13 goals past opposing goalkeepers. Leon also leads the offense with eight assists and Jose Valdez is second on the team in goals with seven.

Andrew Cole has the most starts as goalkeeper for Kansas Wesleyan with 11 starts and 2.09 (GAA). Cole has not played since October 10th, a game against Ottawa where they lost 2-0.

Alejandro Camacho has played the last six games for KWU and has three shutouts with a 1.33 (GAA).

The Series: The last time these two teams met, Friends came away with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Kansas Wesleyan in Salina. Diego Marin provided the lone goal of the match, giving the Falcons the edge in a defensive battle.

Despite the narrow scoreline, Friends controlled the offensive opportunities, outshooting the Coyotes 22-4 and holding a commanding 12-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Falcons will look to replicate that offensive pressure as they prepare for their postseason rematch with Kansas Wesleyan.

Historically between these two it has been in favor of Kansas Wesleyan as they are 18-8-4 in the modern era.

Bryan Perez is in his sixth season as head coach of the Friends University men's soccer program.

In 2024, 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.

During 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 for 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).

Up Next: The winner of this game will move to the semifinals on Friday, November 6th. The higher seed will be the host of the semifinal game.

Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall: 14-3-1

KCAC: 12-1

Home: 8-0

Away: 6-3-1

Scoring zero goals: 0-0

Scoring one goal: 14-3-1

Scoring two goals: 13-2-1

Scoring three goals: 9-0-1

Scoring 4+ goals: 5-0

Allowing zero goals: 10-0