PENSACOLA, Fla. | The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's soccer team battled for 110 minutes and through two extra rounds in penalty kicks, but the terrific 2014 campaign for the Chargers came to a close on Friday night as West Alabama advanced by winning the shootout 6-5 in the semifinals at the Gulf South Conference Championships.
 
UAH ends the season at 13-4-2 with the contest that officially ends in a 1-1 tie, while UWA moves on at 10-6-1.
 
The 13 wins for the Chargers gives UAH its highest win total since 1998 when the team also recorded 13 wins, and now in two seasons under head coach Matt Watts, the Blue and White's record is 23-11-3. UAH was undefeated at 8-0-0 this season at home, and the team was an impressive 9-3 in games decided by one goal, including five wins in overtime.
 
John Imwalle opened the scoring for the Chargers, scoring in the 23rd minute as he headed in a beautiful ball from Leo De Smedt to give UAH a 1-0 lead.
 
The goal was the second of the year for Imwalle, while De Smedt picked up his fourth assist to end the season tied for the team lead in helpers with Anthony Benitez.
 
The Chargers remained in front through the halftime break, but West Alabama's Brian Meadows leveled the contest in the 57th minute, ultimately forcing overtime.
 
UAH would end up with a 16-10 advantage in shots, including a 4-1 edge in the overtime periods, but neither team was able to score again in the 110 minutes of play, forcing the Chargers into the program's third all-time appearance in penalty kicks at the GSC tournament.
 
The first four shooters for UAH would bury their penalties, and Charger keeper Michael Winstone pushed his team to the brink of victory by stopping UWA's fourth attempt to give the third-seeded Chargers a 4-3 advantage. At that point, however, Winstone's counterpart Brad Louis recorded a save of his own, allowing the Tigers to force extra rounds in the PKs.
 
Both teams made their sixth tries, Louis recorded a save on UAH's seventh attempt, and Christian Adkins then won the shootout for UWA by scoring to produce the 6-5 final.
 
The contest marked the final one for UAH's seven seniors, including Kyle Simmons who ended the year as UAH's leading scorer to make him the only player in program history to lead the team in goals for four consecutive seasons.
 
The Chargers will, however, return many of the team's top players this season including six of the seven who were selected as UAH representatives on the all-GSC teams.