The Peoria City soccer team was eliminated from the 2025 USL2 playoffs on Friday in the Central Conference quarterfinals.
Peoria battled Minneapolis City SC to a 2-2 tie through 90 minutes of regulation and a 30-minute overtime, then settled it on penalty kicks.
The Flying Carp fell in the penalty kick tiebreaker, 4-1, to see their season end in the opening round at Valley Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
Playoff regional site host and Great Plains Division champion Des Moines Menace was also knocked out, upset on their home pitch by second-place team, Sueno FC (Joliet), 4-2.
Sueno and Minneapolis City will play each other in the Round of 16 conference semifinals at Des Moines on Sunday evening.
Peoria rallied from a 1-0 deficit to build a 2-1 lead on a pair of goals from forward Luke Persenico.
Persenico delivered that go-ahead goal for Peoria on a penalty kick at 67:23, driving it through empty space middle-right.
But that momentum shift was short-lived as Minneapolis climbed into a 2-2 tie 50 seconds later.
Preston Kipnusu delivered that tie on a spectacular bicycle-style acrobatic kick with his back to the goal about 16 yards out.
The two teams battled on through the rest of regulation, the overtime and into penalty kicks.
In the tiebreaker, the first three Minneapolis challengers – Jacob Swallen, Morgan Olson and Otis Anderson – scored against Peoria goalkeeper Lucas Fontana, who had made a clutch stop on a penalty kick earlier during regulation time.
The Flying Carp’s first two challengers, Grant Paskus and Daniel Valverde, were stopped by Minneapolis goalkeeper Daniel Sessler.
Peoria’s Kevin Mejias extended the tiebreaker with a goal in its third round, cutting the Carp deficit to 3-1.
But Minneapolis clinched it on its next shooter with a goal from Carson Kowalski.
The Carp, who advanced to the USL2 title game in 2024, went 8-3-1 and finished second in the Great Plains Division in the 2025 regular-season.
Minneapolis was the champion from the Heartland Division with an 8-2-2- mark.
Powerhouse Des Moines was 10-1-1 before being knocked out in an upset Friday.
(This story has been updated with additional information).
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria City soccer team eliminated on penalty kicks from opening round of USL2 playoffs
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
