UPLAND, Ind. - Behind two first half goals, the Marian men's soccer team won the battle under the lights at Taylor with the 2-1 victory. Marian improves to 2-1 in Crossroads League play and 7-1-2 overall on the season.
Marian wasted no time to score the game's first goal with
Josh Wesseling hitting
Evan Dawdy for the goal, giving the Knights the early 1-0 lead. The Knights continued to put pressure on Taylor, registering one corner kick and four shots in next five minutes. The hosts found their first attempt of the game in the 19th minute, but
Juan Torres had the denial to keep his team ahead. Dawdy tried to pick up his second goal with another shot that found the hands of the keeper, before
Yoshiaki Takeishi booted a shot that was blocked.
The Knights got their insurance goal at the 36:45 mark, as
Kyle Alb fired one off into back netting on the assist from Takeishi. The Trojans responded with 39 seconds left in the first half, scoring their first goal of the game to trail 2-1 at the break.
Unlike the first half, the second 45 minutes did not see as much offensive action. Marian came out firing three shots in the first five minutes, but none were on frame. Taylor tried to find an equalizer, but a pesky Marian defense made it difficult for the hosts to even get any shot attempts. The Knights held the Trojans to only three shots in the second half, with only one being on target. Marian stayed aggressive in the second half with their 10 shots attempts, but were unable to execute to extend their lead.
Marian held the 25-9 shot advantage, with seven shots on frame. Dawdy led with six shots and scoring one goal, while
Sebastian Gonzalez and
Keiji Nakamae each recorded three shots. Alb,
Alan Tenorio, and
Phillip Seifert all had a pair of attempts, with Alb recording the Knights' second goal. Torres picked up his seventh win, making three saves and allowed one goal.
Marian will be back at home for their next contest, hosting Grace at 2 p.m. on October 7.
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