KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Campbellsville men's soccer put the heartbreaking loss against Southern Wesleyan behind them on Monday and showed why they were the No. 3 seed in the NCCAA National Tournament. The Tigers came out and played with a lot of heart in the 4-1 win against Houghton College.

"I wish we would have played this way on Monday night," said Coach Adam Preston. "This may sound arrogant but I still think we are the best team in the tournament. The guys came out tonight and showed just how good they really are and it was a total team effort."

The scoring came early and often in the first half as the trio of Roraigh Yearwood, Kevon Farquharson, and Alex Ryan took charge. Yearwood, the reigning Mid-South Conference Player of the Year scored twice; both came off assists from Farquharson and Ryan.

On the second goal, some good ball handling and passing by Farquharson might have been overlooked but the St. Elizabeth, Jamaica native used a sweet header to lead his teammate perfectly. Once Yearwood was on the loose, he knew exactly what to do.

With the score 2-0, the Tigers used some solid defense led by captain John Kennedy and fellow senior Dru Sin. Chris Moyo and Adam Linderholm also chipped in on the back line as they held the Highlanders scoreless in the first half.

The second half started off with a few fireworks from both teams but was led by senior Tomas Arocha. The Caracas, Venezuela native scored his second goal this season and sixth of his career.

"That was such a big goal for Tomas," said Preston. "He has played well in both games of the tournament and every time he has entered a game this year he has proven himself."

Houghton College shortened the lead to 3-1 in the 64^th minute off the foot of Landon Sheaffer.

But it did not take Campbellsville long to respond as Eurodger Bargblor, Jr. received a "truly beautiful" (Preston's words) pass from Camilo Roman and Bargblor, Jr. was fouled inside the 18-yard box.

Roman and Arocha, both seniors, were fighting over who should take the PK but since Arocha scored already he awarded Roman on such a nice pass.

Roman set the ball down and took his steps just a few yards back. Once the ball was kicked past the Houghton goalkeeper Jacob Dunnett, the Tiger bench went crazy. The goal was the 10th of the season and 13^th for Roman's career.

With the score 4-1 in favor of the Tigers, Preston cleared his bench as he let many players log valuable minutes.

Although Campbellsville won, the Tigers will not advance to the semi-finals matchup because of the loss on Monday to Southern Wesleyan. The Warriors advanced in the NCCAA Tournament by going 2-0 in pool-play. CU entered the day with a chance at a semifinal wildcard bid, but top-seed Fresno Pacifc University received the wildcard after a 2-2 tie with Lee University to start the day. Fresno and Lee will meet again in the semifinals on Friday, with Southern Weselyan meeting Spring Arbor University, winner of Pool B.

CU will retire four seniors from the 2013 team that made the trip down to Florida. John Kennedy, Dru Sin, Camilo Roman and Tomas Arocha all will graduate this year and have brought the men's soccer team back to its prominence in the NAIA. Kennedy and Sin will actually graduate one semester early in December.

Sin has been a mainstay on the Tiger defense since his freshman year in 2010. The Cape Town, South Africa native made a spectacular play to help keep Houghton out of goal. He went down hard on the play and was helped off the field by the athletic training staff. Sin did not return and was taken to a local hospital where he received X-Rays on his forearm.

Campbellsville finished 18-4-1 with two of its losses coming to two NAIA top-five teams, Rio Grande and Lindsey Wilson College (both made it to the NAIA Tournament).

"This is the best CU team to come through the program," as Preston had to fight back tears during the post-game comments. "This team is very special to me and the program and I cannot say enough how proud I am of them. Many teams throughout the year spoke very high of us and it shows the kind of team we have and the senior leadership those four guys provide."

For complete tournament updates go to CU's NCCAA National Tournament central page, here.