ST. PAUL, Minn. - The University of Northwestern Men's Soccer team took Reynolds Field against Northland College on Saturday afternoon. They celebrated their 12 seniors prior to the kickoff of their final regular season game. Northwestern held nothing back as they scored six times on their way to a final shutout win at home. Over the last three games, the Eagles have out-scored their opponents 16-1.
Northwestern knocked on the door early when they were awarded a free kick at the top of the box in the 7
th minute.
Jared Mojardin (Denver, Colo./Northeast Early College) took the shot and placed it on target. The Northland keeper punched Mojardin's shot back into the box, and
Nathan Martinez (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) followed it up with a header, which was also saved. The Eagles scored the opening goal 7 minutes later after a corner kick was put into play by Mojardin. Martinez flicked the ball up to
Tim DeLoye (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West). DeLoye chested the ball down to his right foot and powered a shot to the back of the net.
The goals continued to roll for Northwestern, as they went on to score three more goals in the first half. Goal number two came from another Mojardin corner kick. The kick was placed perfectly for Martinez to head the ball in, on his first attempt the header bounced of the goal post and ricocheted back to Martinez's head. He did not miss the second header and placed it in the top corner.
Less than a minute later, the Eagles pressured the Jacks straight off the kickoff, and
Aaron Hill (New Brighton, Minn./Mounds View) stole the ball. He sent a pass over to McMillin, who launched the shot with extreme power to score the third goal of the half.
Hill continued his patrol of Northwestern's attacking third, and stole the ball from the LumberJacks and decided to take a shot despite being a couple yards outside the penalty box. The senior's shot bounced off the bottom of the crossbar, the ground, then the back of the crossbar to end in another goal. The Eagles celebrated the final goal of the half with their signature "flying eagle" celebration.
Out of the halftime break, UNW made a couple changes to the lineup and brought on Jared Ortiz Menjivar. Six minutes into the second half, Ortiz Menjivar received a pass from
Alejandro Alfaro (Murrieta, Calif./Vista Murrieta) and took the shot from outside the box, sneaking it past the keeper for another Northwestern goal.
The final goal of the game came from senior
Noah Schwartzrock (North Branch, Minn./North Branch). This goal marked the first of Schwartzrock's collegiate career. He first took a shot that was blocked, but he corralled the rebound and delivered a low drive to the corner. This time, Noah was rewarded with the rippling of the net, which signaled his first goal for the Eagles.
This match was a great celebration for the seniors and a mark of unselfish soccer which saw six different players scoring for Northwestern. Hill and Martinez both delivered a goal and an assist, while McMillan, DeLoye, Ortiz Menjivar, and Schwartzrock each tallied a goal. Johnson, Mojardin, and Hall all notched 2 shots on target. The men's team recorded 23 shots on goal and didn't allow a single shot on goal from the LumberJacks. Due to the relentless offense and tight defense, the Eagles produced another shutout.
Northwestern will travel to Wisconsin to take on Superior, the top team in the conference, on Wednesday in a UMAC Semifinal game at 4:30 PM.
