The Cougar men’s soccer team continued its torrid streak through conference play with a 4-0 shutout of visiting Crown College. UMM has yet to yield a goal to a UMAC opponent this season.
The score is only a single indicator of how lopsided play was throughout the match. UMM outshot Crown 27-3 and allowed the Purple Storm just one shot on goal.
The Cougars opened the scoring nine minutes into the game when senior Kelsey Duerr scored off an assist from seniors Brent Diggs and Patrick O’Connor. Fifteen minutes later, Duerr recorded his second goal of the game, knocking home a long, looping cross from first year player Matt Vik.
Vik then got into the scoring column just before halftime. Taking a back pass from Duerr, he surprised the Crown defense with a blast from 35 yards out that found the top corner of the net.
Senior Brent Diggs added a late second-half goal to round out the scoring.
The win makes five straight shutouts for the Cougars by a combined margin of 18-0. Much of the credit is due to the strong play of their back three: senior Dana Veth, and captains senior Justin O’Connor and sophomore Greg Borchers. They are reluctant to accept such praise. “It’s the guys up front who keep possession of the ball. They make our job easy,” said O’Connor.
The Cougars have the week off before hosting conference rival St. Scholastica on Saturday, and Northland College on Sunday. St. Scholastica won the regular season conference title last season, but lost the Cougars in the conference finals.
Minnesota, Morris 4