The Red Raider men’s soccer team traveled to Crete, Neb., on Tuesday, Sept. 27 and faced the Doane Tigers. Northwestern came out strong and took the 3-0 victory. That was the Raider’s first GPAC win, and they are now 1-1-0 in conference play.
NW scored their first point in the 29th minute. The Raiders earned three straight corner kicks and were able to convert the third one as junior Alex Schussman put a ball in the back of the net by a flick from junior Connor Gisby. That was Schussman’s second goal of the season.
The Raiders did not let up as they scored another goal only 59 seconds after the first. Senior defender Connor Sams put a cross in, and junior Morgan Newby nailed a half volley that beat Doane’s keeper. Newby had three shots on goal for the day. NW went into halftime with a 2-0 lead.
The second half was chippy, and many fouls and yellow cards were handed out. The Raiders saw the game through and kept their cool. In the 75th minute Schussman made a run down the field and was able to pass the ball off to sophomore Cole Cruse who snuck the ball into the near post side. That goal was Cruse’s first of the season.
“We played extremely well as a team and were able to move the ball with great purpose,” Sophomore midfielder Ben Hengst said. “I felt like we had pretty good control of the game even though they tried to get us off our game with chippy play.”
Overall it was a solid performance for the Red Raiders and a big gain in confidence as NW continues to play conference games. On Saturday, Sept. 30 the team will have a home game against Mount Marty.
