Men’s soccer comes up short

Despite dominating possession of the ball, the Northwestern men’s soccer team lost to rival Dordt 2-1 on Tuesday in Sioux Center. Their record is now 5-3-2 (1-1) a little past the midway point of the season.
Dordt, currently 8-1, struck first with a point blank goal 10 minutes in.
The Raiders responded with just a few seconds left in the first half, and sophomore Graham Kinsinger tied the match with a header off freshman Gabriel Goncalves’ free kick. In the first half NW outshot Dordt 9-3.
“It was good to see us come back after getting down early,” said junior Nathan Mastbergen. “We possessed the ball well, but failed to get into many dangerous situations.”
In the second half, Dordt continued to pick up their pace as they took 10 of their 13 shots in the final period, most of which came on quick counter-attacks against an overanxious NW midfield.
The go-ahead goal came in the 70th minute. A Dordt corner kick bounced around in the box after the ball was not cleared, and for the second time in the game, the Defenders had a poke-in goal.
The Raiders tried to increase their pressure on the Dordt defense in the last 20 minutes.
Dordt went down to 10 men after receiving a red card following a sideline scuffle with three minutes remaining, but NW could not capitalize with a goal.
“We controlled the pace of the game for most of the day, but we did not do enough to score,” said sophomore defender Justin Lehman. “We lacked the urgency to score.”
Overall, the match had plenty of tempers flaring as the rivals amassed eight total cards.
Freshman Leo Sanchez led the Raiders in shots, getting three off. Sophomore Matt Dowie, junior Mario Garcia and junior Taylor Biggs also added two each.
Freshman goalkeeper Luis Hernandez had five saves and a goal against in the match.
The Raiders return to action on Saturday as they face non-conference opponent Westminister at 3:30 p.m. The game will be the first held on the newly remodeled grass complex.
There will be a nightcap at 7 p.m. on the complex for the Alumni game.