The men’s soccer team fell 2-1 to visiting Mount Mercy on Sept. 10. The loss marked the first for the Raiders this season, who now stand at a 3-1-1 record in non-conference play.
Although the team fell short, Northwestern recorded five more shots on goal than the Mustangs. Junior forward Ryan Johnson shot on goal four times on four shots. Senior midfielder Gabriel Goncalves, freshman forward Landon Sibole, sophomore defender Dylan Hengst and junior forward Koray Karakas each recorded two shots.
NW came out of the gates swinging and scored on the 11th minute with an unassisted goal by Johnson. Mount Mercy buckled down defensively and shut the Raiders out throughout the remainder of the contest. The Mustangs scored goals on the 22nd and 35th minutes to top NW.
“I think we were trying to play catch up the rest of the game,” said junior forward Tukker Bogaard. “We had trouble combining passes in the final third of the field.”
On the contrary, during the Pizza Ranch Classic NW hosted last weekend, the Raiders offense was red hot. Last Friday, NW toppled Viterbo 6-0 and on Saturday afternoon, toppled Cornerstone 3-2.
Against Viterbo, NW outscored the Hawks 22-5 and 12-1 on shots on goal. Johnson scored two goals. Bogaard, freshman forward Ryan Hickey and sophomore forward Kade Heikens each scored a goal. Junior goalkeeper Aaron Bosch made on save in the contest to preserve the shutout.
On Saturday, NW finished off a nail-biter with a golden goal ten seconds into overtime by Sibole, who received a pass from junior defender Nate Huyser. Goncalves and Karakas each scored a goal in the contest.
“We tried a variety of strategies in the attack,” Tukker said. “We simply outworked our opponents to seize the win with Landon’s overtime goal.
The Raiders will host non-conference opponent, William Penn, on Saturday afternoon. The match will begin at 3 p.m.
