ST. PAUL, Minn. - Facing a windy first half and a downpour in the second half, the University of Northwestern Men's Soccer battled the Crown College Polars. In an evenly played match of 53% possession for Crown and 47% possession for UNW, the Polars were able to find the back of the net twice to take home all three points.
Northwestern outshot Crown 7-4 through the first 45 minutes, with
Elijah Johnson (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) nearly opening the scoring in the 22nd minute, but the goalie slowed the ball enough for a Crown defender to clear it. Off the corner,
Josiah Mezey (Monument, Colo./Village) launched a bullet of a shot that narrowly missed high over the goal. The Polars collected their first goal in the 37th minute off a corner kick to take the lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, the Eagles notched another close opportunity that came after
Troy Johnson (Killeen, Texas/Killeen) sent the ball ahead to
Sebastian Reyes (Hawthorne, Calif./Da Vinci Design), who volleyed the ball over a defender before testing the keeper. With five minutes left, UNW sparked some offensive opportunities when
Levi Harmes (Richfield, Minn./Homeschool) and
Nathan Parker (Lino Lakes, Minn./Homeschool) threatened with shots that framed the goal, missing just high and left.
Gunnar Hirsch (Fountain, Colo./Fountain-Fort Carson) then sent a ball on target that the keeper punched away. CC took the shot advantage 9-5 in the second half, scoring their second goal in the 70th minute.
Parker led the team with three shots, while Harmes and Mezey each added two.
Logan Hutzenbiler (Billings, Mont./Billings Central Catholic) played all 90 minutes in goal and made three saves.
Northwestern will wrap up their first half of conference play on Tuesday, October 6th against North Central at Parade Stadium in downtown Minneapolis.
