CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Parkland men's soccer team scored three times in the second half to overcome a 1-0 halftime deficit to defeat Southwestern Illinois on Wednesday afternoon. Sophomore Zachary Gowlett scored the game-winning goal in the 77^th minute. With the win, the Cobras improve to 11-2-1 on the season and clinched the No. 3 seed in Region 24.

"I feel like it, sometimes, requires our guys to get it in the hole before they really start to push, said head coach Mark Sikora. "Maybe that's youthful inexperience, or just that the season is a grind. Having said that, their keeper made some good saves. We just weren't clean enough in the box; we were getting chances, they just weren't good enough. Then, we gave up a goal and that might have been the thing that pushed us over the edge. The response after that was pretty good. We had a little mistake towards the end for that second goal that we gave up, but other than that I liked about 45-50 minutes today."

Needing a win or a tie to secure its regional seeding, Parkland locked up the third seed in next week's Region 24 tournament and home-field advantage for its regional semifinal. As the No. 3 seed, the Cobras will host its semifinal match on Wednesday, October 24 at 3 p.m. again facing the Blue Storm.  

"In a way, it's nice because we don't have to look at film on them; we know, relatively, what we're going to get," said Sikora. "On the other hand, I feel like we left it open for them. I don't think we scared anybody today, so that's going to give them a little bit of boost. Hopefully, we can be that dominating team, and, if we can get an early goal, that'll boost us up even more."

In a first half that saw plenty of opportunities around the goal, Parkland struggled initially to convert on the early scoring chances, while a goal by Southwestern Illinois in the eighth minute gave the Blue Storm a 1-0 lead. Overall in the opening 45 minutes, the Cobras took nine corner kicks, as well as other possessions that extended into the box, but were only able to put one shot on goal.

After two more quality scoring chances to open the second half, the Cobras found the equalizer in the 55^th minute. Possessing the ball just behind midfield, midfielder Naoto Uede lofted a pass over the Southwestern Illinois back line towards forward Yu Sasaki. Holding his line to stay onside, Sasaki beat his defender to the ball, and then arched it over the goalie to tie the match. The goal was Sasaki's 10^th of the season, breaking a tie with Uede for the team lead.

After a pair of shots on goal, one from Sasaki and another from Zachary Gowlett, the Cobras punched home the go-ahead score with 20 minutes left on the clock. Following a pass into the box from Ethan Norton from the left wing, the Cobras put a shot on goal that was deflected and then knocked into the net by Reina. The goal for Reina was his eighth of the season.

Seven minutes later, midfielder Zachary Gowlett gave the Cobras what proved to be a vital third goal, as the sophomore scored his fifth goal of the season in the 77^th minute.
Southwestern Illinois pulled back within a goal off a penalty kick that was awarded following a handball. The Blue Storm put two more shots on goal in the final seven minutes, but was unable to tie the match.

After just one shot on goal in the first half, the Cobras put nine shots on frame in the final 45 minutes, and finished with a 10-7 shots-on-goal advantage and a 12-1 advantage in corner kicks.

The Cobras will wrap up the 2018 regular season on Sunday, October 21, at home against the University of Illinois Club Team. First kick is scheduled for 12 p.m. central time, changed from the previous start time of 2 p.m.