MORRIS, MINN. – The University of Northwestern men's soccer team secured a 2-1 victory in its regular season finale against the University of Minnesota-Morris Friday afternoon. The Eagles finish the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) schedule with a 5-3 record (8-8-1 overall). With a win, UNW has a guaranteed No. 3 seed in the conference postseason tournament.
Taking on UMM in the UMAC Game of the Week, Northwestern came out ready to attack. The teams strong offensive front landed them a goal as
Derrick Aminga (Andover, Minn./Andover) knocked in a shot off of his own rebound at the 11:00 minute mark.
Throughout the next 34:00 minutes of play, the back-and-fourth battle continued. Though the Eagles kept the Cougars from scoring, the home team managed to tally eight shots and four shots on goal on the half.
Closing the first with a 1-0 lead, UNW fired off seven shots and three shots on goal. In the backfield, goalkeeper
Turner Main (Kewaunee, Wis./Kewaunee) had a strong showing when he caught four saves throughout the 45:00-minute period.
During the second half, both teams kept up the fight. At the 67', Northwestern tabbed its second goal of the game as
Mark Cleope (Waterloo, Iowa./Waterloo West) sank one, fed from his brother
Chris Cleope (Waterloo, Iowa./Waterloo West), to help stretch a 2-0 lead.
As the game clock ran down, Morris was able to drop their first and only goal of the game with three minutes left to play to make it a 2-1 ball game — still in the Eagles favor.
Securing a 2-1 victory, UNW totaled 14 shots and seven shots on goal, which was just shy of UMM's 17 shots and 9 shots on goal.
The game leaders on the afternoon were Aminga (3S / 2SOG/ 1G),
Joshua Robertson (Excelsior, Minn./Southwest Christian) (3S / 1SOG),
Mark Cleope (Waterloo, Iowa./Waterloo West) (2S / 1SOG / 1G),
Chris Cleope (Waterloo, Iowa./Waterloo West) (2S / 2SOG / 1A), Main (8 saves).
The men will play at UW-Superior on Wednesday, November 2
nd, for the first round of playoffs. Start time is set for 1 p.m. To stay up-to-date, fans can keep watch at www.unweagles.com.