SUNDAY’S SCORES
@UIW 0, UMass Lowell 0
Northern Kentucky 1, @Western Illinois 0
@Lindenwood 3, Wright State 0
@#6 Denver 2, SIUE 1
@HCU 1, Gonzaga 0
 

UIW 0, UMASS LOWELL 0

SAN ANTONIO – UIW played to a scoreless draw with UMass Lowell on Sunday.

UIW had nine shots (two on goal) compared to 10 shots for UMass Lowell (eight of which were on goal).

Alejandro De La Torre made eight saves for the Cardinals.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY 1, WESTERN ILLINOIS 0

MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois men’s soccer battled throughout the afternoon but came up just short in a 1-0 loss against Northern Kentucky on Sunday at Northwest Field.

The Leathernecks (1-3-0) generated several quality chances, highlighted by a first-half penalty kick opportunity, but could not find the finishing touch. Ty Duax stepped to the spot in the 25th minute, only to see his attempt blocked by NKU goalkeeper Alex Kron.

Northern Kentucky (2-1-0) broke through in the 74th minute when Ali Taleb scored inside the box for what proved to be the game’s lone goal.

Western Illinois continued to press in the closing stages, earning seven second-half corner kicks and forcing Northern Kentucky into several saves. Ryan Wrobleski and Maksim Palisak each had shots on goal late in the second half. 

On the other end, Leatherneck goalkeeper Micah Ramirez kept the Leathernecks in the contest with a season-high seven saves, including five in the opening half.

The matchup was physical, with both teams combining for 23 fouls and six yellow cards.

LINDENWOOD 3, WRIGHT STATE 0

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The historic start to the Lindenwood Men’s Soccer season has continued as they defeated Wright State on Sunday afternoon by a final score of 3-0. With the victory, the Lions improve their record to 3-0 on the young season, which is the first time that has happened since 2013. 

The first half saw a total of seven shots, with the advantage going to Lindenwood 4-3. The Lions would record their first shot of the game at the 12th minute, as Sebastia Cerda Tous would send a shot just wide of the goal. 10 minutes later, Wright State would commit a foul that would draw a yellow card, giving Lindenwood a great opportunity at a free kick from 20 yards out. Gavin Csiszar would take the free kick and would hit the crossbar on the shot attempt, allowing Luca Bartoni to control the rebound and put the ball in the back of the net to give the Lions a 1-0 lead at the 23rd minute.

Later in the first half, Matteo Landais would send a pass down the field in the direction of Jordan Matthews, in which the Raider goalkeeper would attempt to intercept. The goalkeeper would miss the pass, and Matthews would send it over the goalkeepers head to a wide open Jarred Hendricks who would tap it in to make it 2-0 right before halftime. 

With his team leading fourth assist of the season, Matteo Landais would not be done. In the 60th minute, Landais would score the Lion’s third goal of the game off a cross from Josh Francombe. Landais’s three point performance on the afternoon now makes him the team leader in points with six. 

Quinn Closson would record his second shut out of the season, making four saves in the contest with three of them coming in the second half. Closson’s best save of the game came at the 78th minute as Wright State’s Roman Kedgley would send a shot from 15 yards out heading towards the top of the goalpost. Closson was able to dive for it and make an incredible save, knocking the ball over the top of the goal to keep the Raiders off the scoreboard. The Lions held the Raiders to just 10 shots in the contest, with only four of the shots being on goal. 

#6 DENVER 2, SIUE 1

DENVER – SIUE men’s soccer dropped a 2-1 decision Sunday at No. 6 Denver.

The Cougars dropped to 1-2-0 with the loss. The Pioneers improved to 2-2-0 with the victory and snapped a two-game losing streak in the process.

Both teams converted on penalties early in the contest. Denver took a 1-0 lead in the 11th when Holger Olsson scored past SIUE goalkeeper Noah Scheidweiler. Scheidweiler exited shortly after with injury and was replaced by Ethan Kornas.

Evan Howard scored his second goal of the year with his own penalty kick in the 22nd minute.

The game-winner came in the 23rd minute when the Pioneers took advantage of a corner kick. Trevor Wright scored for Denver after the kick was taken by Olsson.

The SIUE defense sustained 13 shots from Denver in the second half without conceding again, but the Cougar offense never could find the equalizer.

Kornas made three saves in his 77-plus minutes in goal for SIUE. Howard and Carles Zomeño each had a pair of shots for the Cougars, who finished with seven total and four on goal. Both of Howard’s were on target while Hugo Cornish and Ethan Hackenberg also registered a shot on goal.

HCU 1, GONZAGA 0

HOUSTON – Houston Christian University got a score from Ryan Okerayi with just over 10 minutes to play to defeat visiting Gonzaga University 1-0 on Sunday evening at Houston Sports Park. The Huskies bounced back from a tough loss on Thursday to finish off a chaotic home stretch that saw the season opener canceled and the finale moved off campus due to weather.

 

After feeling their way around the first 10 minutes or so, the Huskies and Bulldogs each began to make some runs. The Zags managed three shots on goal in a seven-minute span, two from Alex Bazia, but all three were stopped by HCU’s Alex Aitken.

 

The Huskies got a corner in the 34th minute, but a header by Nico Kross went just wide of the pipes. Ricardo Garcia then had two long range shots in the final nine minutes, the second from straightaway that just sailed over the crossbar as the teams headed to the break in a scoreless deadlock.

 

Gonzaga came out of the chute quickly to begin the second frame, as again it was Bazia putting one onto the mitts of Aitken diving to his left. The Huskies countered with several chances of their own. Jireh Oyebamiji had a fine chance saved by GU’s Chema Preciado before Ryan Okerayi had two chances stopped, one by Preciado and one by the right woodwork representing the Huskies best opportunity to that point.

 

HCU kept up the pressure on the offensive end all the while clamping down the final third. Every run by the Zags was met by strong defensive play by the Huskies back line.

 

In the 80th minute, the Huskies earned a free kick just in front of their own bench. Ben Thirkill curled in a long entry that found Joby Reid just outside the goal box for a header that trickled down into traffic. The ball found the left foot of Ryan Okerayi who blasted it past Preciado for the breakthrough, putting HCU out front one-nil.

 

Ron Pressler would nearly double the score just two minutes later, but Preciado kept the Zags in it with a strong save. The Huskies continued their hard-nosed defensive effort for the remainder of the way to see out the result.

 

HCU posted its third straight match with double-figure shots, cranking out 13 with five on goal. Okerayi had three shots, two on target as well as his second tally of the season. Joby Reid picked up his third assist of the season while Thirkill notched his first career helper.

Alex Aitken, the school’s leader in career saves, registered four on the back end of a staunch team defensive showing for his second clean sheet in three outings.

 

Bazia had three shots for the Zags, who split their Texas two-step after defeating UIW 1-0 on Thursday in San Antonio. Drew Pederson also had three shots and Preciado had four stops for Gonzaga (1-2-1).

 

HCU is now 2-1-0 on the season. 

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