MARION, Ind. - The fifth-seeded Marian men's soccer team got their revenge from earlier this season as they took down fourth-seeded Indiana Wesleyan Saturday night. The Knights' 3-2 win advances them to the Crossroads League Tournament Semifinals and improves their record to 12-4-2 on the season.
Neither team waster time to get the offense flowing with both sides creating opportunities from the opening whistle. Marian's
Anton Bezborodov took the games first shot before Indiana Wesleyan countered back with a corner and three shots in the first 12 minutes. Marian took the advantage early as
Sam Goodin connected with
Kameron Hooker at the 16:01 mark, grabbing the 1-0 lead. The Wildcats tired to quickly respond with a goal of their own, but the attempt was denied by
Alvaro Rueda.
The two teams went back and forth the remainder of the half, trading possession and firing off seven more shots. Indiana Wesleyan held the 8-5 shot advantage, but it was Marian holding the 1-0 lead at the break.
Indiana Wesleyan came out firing off a shot in an attempt to even the score to start the second half. Rueda would once again keep Marian ahead 1-0 with his save, before
Evan Dawdy took a shot just wide. After a red card was issued to the Wildcats,
Phillip Seifert stepped up to put the penalty kick in the back of the net, extending the Knights lead to 2-0 in the 54th minute. The Wildcats put together a solid pair of efforts with two headers before Dawdy tacked on another goal for Marian at the 60:25 mark.
Indiana Wesleyan began to claw their way back as they began a scoring run in the 71st minute, trying to comeback from a three-goal deficit. Guzman Trigo scored the Wildcats first goal of the night, while Parker Stewart added another in the 77th minute to cut the Marian lead down to 3-2.
Despite Indiana Wesleyan's late comeback attempt and leading in shots 15-10, Marian's defense held strong to pick up the 3-2 upset victory.
Seifert and Dawdy led the Knights with two shots each and scoring a goal apiece, while six different players added one shot.
Kameron Hooker scored on his one attempt, with Goodin picking up the assists. Rueda made five saves and allowed two goals in his full 90 minutes.
Marian will travel to Bethel on November 8 for the Crossroads League Tournament Semifinals.
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