Last weekend the Northwestern men’s soccer team participated in the Viterbo Classic. The team won both of its games and improved to 4-4 on the season.
The Raiders beat the host team, Viterbo College, 3-0 in the first match of the classic.
NW started strong and connected on a volley for a score in the first three minutes. Sophomore Nathan Huyser was the recipient off the corner kick from junior Gabriel Goncalves. After going scoreless the rest of the half, the Raiders picked up the attack in the second half and scored two more. Senior Nick Hengst rebounded and scored a mishandle by the Viterbo goalie in the 48th minute.
In the 75th minute, senior Jason Tessman scored off of a cross by sophomore Koray Karakas.
“Once we get our momentum going, we are hard to stop,” said senior Jeriah Dunk. “We have a deep team, with skilled players, and everyone is able to make an impact on the field.”
The NW defense allowed only four shots on goal opposed to the Raider’s 12. Sophomore goalie Aaron Bosch came up with all four saves.
In the second game of the tournament the Raiders picked up with another shutout victory. They beat No. 24 Cardinal Stritch 1-0.
The back line of defense came up big in this game. Bosch finished with only two saves, but the defense played tough and forced 10 errant shot attempts.
The game winning goal came in the 49th minute when sophomore Ryan Johnson scored in a header off of an advance by sophomore Ben Fetter.
“We have a very difficult non-conference schedule,” said head coach Dan Swier. “These games and these wins are challenging us to get better and preparing us for success in GPAC play.”
The win marked the third in a row for the Raiders and brought their record back to .500.
NW will open GPAC play on Saturday at Midland.
