ST. PAUL, Minn. - The University of Northwestern Men's Soccer team closed out the regular season against the University of Minnesota Morris with a 0-1 loss on Saturday afternoon. Prior to kickoff, the Eagles honored their seven seniors, Jackson Bauer (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Huntley), Noah Chan (Brandon, S.D./Brandon Valley), Grant Janowiec (Andover, Minn./Andover), Nathan Martinez (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee), Curtis Tinjum (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West), Charlie Van Wyk (Afton, Minn./New Life Academy), and Luis Villalobos (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North), who shared their favorite soccer memories and advice for their younger teammates.
With the third seed in the UMAC Tournament already secured, Northwestern used the match to give several regular starters a chance to rest ahead of Wednesday's semifinal. The Eagles created several promising chances throughout the match but were unable to find the back of the net. Their best look of the first half came in the 16th minute when Jared Mojardin (Denver, Colo./Northeast Early College) crossed the ball into the box for Villalobos, whose header missed just over the bar.
After finding just one shot in the opening 45 minutes, Northwestern's offense found more of a rhythm in the second half, generating 10 shot attempts. Early in the half, Van Wyk received a pass from Villalobos and forced a save from the Morris keeper. Moments later, the Cougars converted a penalty kick in the 51st minute, which proved to be the difference in the match.
The Eagles continued to press for an equalizer, with Joe Nyagaka (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) recording two quality attempts in the middle of the half and Gunnar Hirsch (Fountain, Colo./Fountain-Fort Carson) testing the keeper twice in the closing minutes. The final chance came with six minutes remaining when Jay'ce Jones (Marina del Rey, Calif./Palisades Charter) broke through the back line and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but his shot was slowed by the keeper and cleared off the line by a defender.
Jones and Nyagaka each tallied three shots, while Hirsch added two. Goalkeeper Hayden DeAnnuntis (Ferndale, Wash./Ferndale) made two saves as the Eagles outshot the Cougars 11–6.
With the regular season complete, Northwestern turns its attention to the UMAC Tournament. The Eagles will travel to Mankato to face Bethany Lutheran on Wednesday at 7:00 PM, looking to flip the script after last year's season ended in the UMAC semi-final.
