Posted: Nov 06, 2025
Men's Soccer rallies in Second Half, punches ticket to HBCUAC Championship Match
SHREVEPORT, La. - With Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) West Division champion Wiley University men's soccer trailing by one in the semifinals of the 2025 HBCUAC Conference Soccer Championship, freshman Alejandro Barcena delivered in his first career postseason match. He scored two goals in the final 20 minutes, to lead the Wildcats to the championship match in a 2-1 victory over West No. 3 seed Paul Quinn College Wednesday at Lee Hedges Stadium.
The Wildcats (8-3-2, 3-0-1 HBCUAC) won their first postseason match since 2016, when they prevailed in the Red River Athletic Conference semifinals. This marks the third time the Wildcats have advanced to the conference championship match, having reached the RRAC Tournament final in 2015 and 2016.
Wiley fell behind in the 28th minute after a cross-field pass set up a breakaway for Bruno Repholo. Anthony Ulloa had a chance to tie, but it was stopped by Eduardo Bicca. Stephen Gaskin had a shot hit the post. Two players received red cards just before the half, causing both teams to play 10-on-10 in the second half.
In the second half, Wiley turned up the pressure in the offensive end. It put up 17 shots with six on goal. Jayce Graves, Barcena and Anfernee Bascombe all had shots hit the crossbar. In the 73rd minute, Juan Reyes completed a cross-pass to Barecena, who fired it into the back of the net for the tying goal. Ten minutes later, he put the Wildcats in front, scoring off a pass from Rintaro Sakai.
The Wildcats will face West No. 2 seed Huston-Tillotson University in the championship match at 6 p.m. Friday. They won both matches against the Rams with a pair of 2-0 victories. Wiley seeks its second conference title, after winning the 2015 Red River Athletic Conference Tournament.
For more coverage on the Wildcats, visit https://wileyathletics.com/sports/msoc/index
About Wiley University Athletics
Wiley University sponsors 13 varsity sports, women's volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field, softball and baseball. It competes in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC).
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