CONCORDIA, Kansas — Penalty kicks were not exactly what the Cloud County Community College men's soccer team and head coach James Ross wanted to see Sunday when it hosted Cowley Community College in the second round of the NJCAA Region VI Men's Soccer Playoffs.

The T-Birds had seen their seasons end in penalty kicks in each of the previous two seasons. But thanks to an outstanding performance from freshman goalkeeper Calum Ellis Jones, and a game-sealing goal from Ryan Medilah, No. 8 ranked Cloud County was able to get that monkey off its back Sunday with a 2-2 (Cloud County 3-1 in penalty kicks) victory over Cowley.

"The last two years we've been knocked out on penalty kicks and this year was our year," Ross lamented. "It is our year. Outstanding win for the players."

Jones, fresh off winning the KJCCC and NJCAA Goalie of the Week honors, was nails for the T-Birds (16-0-2 overall) as he stopped three of the four Tigers' penalty kick shots he saw.

"I feel on top of the world. Right now I'm on Cloud 9," Jones said. "We need to take this momentum into the next game and keeping playing game-by-game."

While Jones stonewalled the Tigers, Cloud County got its PK goals from sophomore Saindou Ali, freshman Marcos Gomes and the clinched from freshman Ryan Medilah, who Ross purposely put in the No. 4 spot of the shooting order in hopes Medilah would be in a position to close things out.

"Ryan's technique is top-notch. To me, his technique is the best on the team and that's why I had him shooting where he was in the PK lineup," Ross said.

It was one of a few heady moves by Ross on the afternoon as, after his team fell down 2-1 on a Cowley PK goal with 31:06 remaining in the second half, he switched his formation to a 4-3-3. Just 11 minutes later, the T-Birds answered with the tying goal as freshman "Super sub" Rafael Santos headed in a cross from Marcos Gomes that was caught by Tigers' goalkeeper, but the save was ruled by the referee to have been made behind the goal line.

Cloud County's first goal of the afternoon came with 13 minutes remaining in the first half, courtesy of freshman Tyreece John-Blake. The score tied the game at 1-1 and settled the T-Birds down after what had been a rocky first half to that point.

"I give a lot of credit to Cowley. The first 15 minutes, when (the Tigers) scored their first goal, they had us rattled," Ross said. "We went down not only once, but twice. But these kids are resilient. They don't care if they go down 2-0, 3-0 or 4-0. They keep battling."

Up next for the T-Birds will be the NJCAA Plains District Championships on Thursday, Nov. 3 where they will travel to Miami, Oklahoma to face a familiar foe, Northern Oklahoma A&M College. The game will be a rematch of last year's Plains District semi-final, won by the Golden Norsemen in penalty kicks.

A win would guarantee Cloud County a trip to the NJCAA DI Men's Soccer Championships, and provide a chance to play for the Plains District championship.

 "The KJCCC West conference title was our first goal this season and we've done that," Ross said. "The Plains District title is our second goal. Third goal is a national title and we're progressing each day."