The Raiders men’s soccer team opened conference play this week with two important games against Jamestown and Concordia. In the first game, Northwestern faced off against Jamestown for their first ever game in the GPAC. Jamestown was comfortable keeping possession for extended periods throughout the game but were never able to break through the Raiders’ stifling backline. The Raiders were able to make the most of their early chances with Anselmo Kim drawing a penalty in the 16th minute which was calmly finished by Tyler Limmer to go up 1-0.
The game remained tight until NW was able to break through on a lovely piece of skill by Limmer on the end-line who was able to slot the ball back to Kim to get a 2-0 lead with just 16 minutes to go in the game. Felipe Gontijo and Breno Fabbri added to the score in the final minutes to give NW a decisive 4-0 win. The win was monumental as head coach Dan Swier celebrated his 100th victory at the helm of the Raider squad.
Later in the week, NW looked to continue their hot streak against Concordia in a matchup that has turned into an intense rivalry over the past few seasons. The game began, and both teams were out of the gates looking to pressure high on the field to make the most of their opponent’s mistakes. However, neither team was able to break through for the better part of the half. Concordia was the first to score with just two minutes remaining in the first half after a poor shot was controlled in the box by a Concordia forward before NW was able to step their line up and poke the ball past goalkeeper Matt Scott to go up 1-0 just before halftime.
The Raiders responded with great resilience in the second half and were able to get a goal back thanks to some grit shown by Tyler Limmer who won the ball off two Concordia defenders in their box and slotted the ball to the middle, where Alex Schussman pounded the ball past the keeper to tie the game at 1-1. Despite NW pushing very hard to score, they were unable to get the decisive goal, and the game ended in a tie. The Raiders continue conference play next week with away games at Mount Marty and Doane.
