NEW ULM, Minn. – Some late heroics lifted the University of Northwestern Men's Soccer team to its second consecutive 2-0 victory on Wednesday evening. Northwestern followed up Saturday's 2-0 win over North Central by defeating Martin Luther College by the same score in New Ulm, thanks to a pair of late goals. UNW improves to 3-4-2 on the season with the win and 2-2-1 in the UMAC, while MLC drops to 2-8-1 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
The Eagles dictated the pace of the first half, out-shooting the Knights 10-2 in the opening 45 and 4-0 on goal. Northwestern's closest chance in the first half came in the 40
th minute when
Luis Villalobos (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) headed a corner kick toward the top of the net, but the Martin Luther goalkeeper made an incredible leaping save to knock it out of play. They were not able to convert any of those shots into goals, however, and the teams went into the half deadlocked at 0-0.
UNW continued to put pressure on the Knights' back end with numerous shots on goal in the second half, and was finally able to see its efforts pay off in the 78th minute courtesy of a perfect free kick set piece.
Simeon Friesen (Mounds View, Minn./Homeschool) dribbled a low pass out right to
Aaron Hill (New Brighton, Minn./Mounds View), who centered it high into the box where
Nathan Martinez (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) was able to head it in for the go-ahead score. With the momentum firmly on their side, the Eagles continued to pepper the net with shots on goal in the closing minutes, culminating in Hill fighting through contact in the box and sneaking one past the MLC keeper in the 88
th minute to seal the 2-0 win.
Hill's goal was his lone shot on goal, but he did shoot four times and added an assist. Friesen led the Eagles in shots and shots on goal with five and four, respectively, while
Gonzalo Luna Belmonte (Riverbank, Calif./Riverbank) shot four times and twice on goal.
Julian Ortiz Menjivar (Oakdale, Minn./North St. Paul) also logged two shots on goal, while Martinez's goal was his only shot of the match.
Michael Machuca (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) only faced two shots on goal thanks to the efforts of Martinez,
Tim DeLoye (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West),
Spencer Ford (Savage, Minn./Prior Lake) and
Ryan Agudo Medina (Columbia Heights, Minn./Columbia Heights), and saved both of them. For the match, Northwestern held a significant edge in shots (25-8), shots on goal (13-2) and corner kicks (11-3).
UNW will look to extend its winning streak Saturday when it welcomes Minnesota Morris to Reynolds Field as part of a Homecoming quadruple-header on the Northwestern campus. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM, following the conclusion of the women's game.
