Men’s soccer pick up GPAC opener win

nds and hot cocoa in their cups, the Christmas-themed Northwestern fans watched their team come away with a 1-0 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan.
The win advanced NW’s record to 5-2-1, tying last season’s win total. The victory also put the Raiders at 1-0 in the GPAC.
In the 19th minute, sophomore defender Justin Lehman connected on a free kick from nearly 60 yards out for the lone goal of the match.
“It was a gift from Santa Claus,” said junior defender Bryan Duffey.
The contest became noticeably more physical as the game continued. Both squads were the recipients of hard tackles as the game progressed, in typical GPAC fashion, there were cards shown to both sides.
NW managed to play above the chippy nature of the game and hold off the Prairie Wolves’ late scoring attacks.
Despite the victory, NW wasn’t content with their level of play. They were outshot 7-5 in the match and were out-possessed by Nebraska Wesleyan.
“We’ve played much better soccer this season, and we’re not satisfied with how we played,” Lehman said, “but we came away with the win.”
Last Saturday, the squad traveled to Simpson and brought home an impressive 3-0 victory over the Storm.
NW dominated all aspects of the game. They outshot the Storm 24-10 and maintained possession for the majority of the match. All three Raider goals were in the second half.
In the 59th minute junior Taylor Biggs one-timed junior Mario Garcia’s cross into the backside of the net for the first goal of the match.
In the 78th minute, freshman Leo Sanchez scored into an empty net off a goalie deflection. With three minutes remaining, junior Brandon Hammack blasted a shot that ricocheted off the left post into the net. Hammock was assisted by Garcia.
“It was a model of execution that the team can look to build off of going into conference play,” said sophomore midfielder Jason Tessman.
NW will travel to Sioux Center next Tuesday to face rival Dordt, who has put together an impressive 7-0 record to this point.
“We are focused on improving ourselves to be successful next Tuesday,” Lehman said.