Men’s soccer rebounds with blowout win

The Red Raider men’s soccer squad pleased the home crowd by dominating Buena Vista 5-0 on Wednesday night.
It didn’t take long for Northwestern to get on the scoreboard. Freshman Jason Tessman executed a penalty kick 31 seconds into the game. In the 25th minute, junior Mario Garcia scored the second goal.
“Going into halftime, we weren’t content with a two goal lead,” said Garcia.
After the break, NW took the field with purpose, scoring three more goals in 16 minutes. Sophomore Nick Hengst volleyed a throw-in, Tessman added another, and sophomore Harri Edwards converted a penalty kick.
“We had great possession throughout the game, which led to our offensive success,” Garcia said.
The Red Raiders traveled down to Atchison, Kan., for two challenging soccer matches this past weekend.
On Friday, the Raiders fell to No. 22 Benedictine 2-0. Benedictine maintained possession most of the game. They scored early in the first half and spread the lead with a goal with five seconds remaining in the first half. NW was out-shot 13-0 in the contest.  Freshman goalkeeper Luis Hernandez made five saves.
On Saturday, the Red Raiders endured an unsettling double overtime loss to Central Methodist.
NW took a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute when Garcia netted a pass from sophomore forward Graham Kinsinger.
NW gave up the game-tying goal in the 54th minute. The final minutes of regulation saw a downpour of rain and the score tied 1-1.
With less than two minutes remaining in the second overtime, Central Methodist scored the golden goal to defeat the Red Raiders 2-1.
“Overall, we had our chances, but we didn’t capitalize,” said junior defender Bryan Duffey.
Garcia led the team with five shots and a goal. Kinsinger had four shots and an assist. Hernandez made 12 saves.
The Raiders travel to Indianola tomorrow to square off with Simpson College in a non-conference game.