Minnesota, Morris 2
Crown College 1 (OT)
Two weeks ago the Cougar men’s soccer team blanked Crown College at home, 4-0. They outshot the Purple Storm in that game 27-3 and dominated time of possession.
This afternoon against Crown in St. Bonifacius, UMM posted similar statistics (shots: 29-6) but Crown learned to do something differently and it put a scare into the Cougars as they needed overtime to overcome the Purple Storm, 2-1.
The Crown tally was the first goal against UMM in eight games.
Head coach Christian DeVries was relieved by the outcome and pleased by the manner in which it was achieved. “I think this was a good wake-up call for our guys. The first go-around [in conference] is not indicative of how it will be the second time. We need to stay on our game all season.”
For most of the season, the Cougars have used their talent for possessing the ball to control the pace of the game. But today, Crown used that talent against them.
“When you possess as well as we do, you’re susceptible to counter-attack and they used that very well against us,” DeVries said. “Their goal came on transition on a free ball. Their forwards [Jon Schultz and Mark Matson] work very well together and they did what they needed to do.”
Schultz scored Crown’s lone goal unassisted in the 39th minute.
Having the lead, the Purple Storm packed in their defense and made it difficult for the Cougars to get clean looks on goal.
In the 61st minute, forward Brent Diggs was brought down in the box. Captain Patrick O’Connor converted the penalty kick to tie the game at one. O’Connor is three of three on penalty kicks this season.
The game moved into overtime. In the 98th, minute senior Kelsey Duerr and junior Mattson Towley combined on a ball served into the box where Diggs finished with a goal in the lower right corner for the win.
After the game, DeVries had praise for the Crown goalkeeper, John Loeffler, who had 11 saves in the game. “We put a lot of pressure on him and he made big plays when it mattered.”
The win improves the Cougars’ record to 9-3, still undefeated in conference play. They travel to Minneapolis tomorrow to face Northwestern for the second time this season. They defeated the Eagles on September 25 in Morris, 5-0.
DeVries knows that Northwestern is on a four game winning streak and wants his team prepared. “Today we learned to fight back from being down. We have to stay on our mark no matter who we’re playing,” said DeVries.
Box Score
