ST. PAUL, Minn. – After a disappointing, 3-0 loss at Crown College on Saturday, the University of Northwestern Men's Soccer team had a tall task in front of it at Reynolds Field on Tuesday night: defending conference champion and 2024 preseason favorite University of Wisconsin-Superior. The Yellowjackets entered the match 2-0 in UMAC play and riding 18-game winning streak against UNW. Despite a tremendous effort on the back end for the Eagles, the streak continued as UW-Superior earned a 1-0 win in St. Paul.
The game was intense and physical from the jump, which came to a head when UWS was awarded a penalty kick in the 20
th minute. Northwestern goalkeeper
Michael Machuca (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) correctly guessed which direction the kick was headed, but it deflected off his hands and into the net to give Superior an early edge.
The Yellowjackets continued to test Machuca throughout the match, putting up nine shots on goal compared to UNW's one, but the Eagles' keeper and the defenders in front of him were able to keep UW-Superior out of the net for the remainder of the night. Unfortunately for Northwestern, Superior's defense was just as stout. The Eagles had one last chance in the final 20 seconds via a corner kick, but were unable to capitalize. Despite being out-shot 20-10 and 8-1 on goal, the result was a 1-0 loss for the purple and gold.
Machuca finished with eight saves in the match, keeping UNW within striking distance throughout. Northwestern's starting back line of
Spencer Ford (Savage, Minn./Prior Lake),
Troy Johnson (Killeen, Texas/Killeen),
Nathan Martinez (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) and
Tim DeLoye (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West) deserves a tremendous amount of credit as well for helping hold the Yellowjackets to just one goal, which came from a penalty kick.
Jared Mojardin (Denver, Colo./Northeast Early College) and
Curtis Tinjum (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West) led the offensive effort with three shots each. One of Tinjum's was also the lone shot on goal for the Eagles.
UNW will be back at home Saturday, playing host to North Central at 4:30 PM. Those who can't make it to Reynolds Field can catch the game on the Eagle Sports Network, an affiliate of the UMAC Sports Network.
