Coming off a close home game loss to Loras College on September 11, IWU men’s soccer travelled to Galesburg, IL to face off against Knox College at Jorge Prats Field on Tuesday, September 21. The losses to the Duhawks (3-1-1) and the Prairie Fire (2-4) have left the Titans 0-4 this season so far.
Last week saw the Titans play host to Loras College on September 11. After a close match, IWU did eventually fall 3-2 to the Duhawks, but not without putting up a fight. Leading the offense were seniors Zack Kokes and Trevor Martin, who brought the Titans to an early 1-0 lead. IWU was unmatched by the end of the first half and outshot Loras 11-8
Shortly into the second half, Kokes landed a penalty goal drawn up by senior Donovan Malone that brought Wesleyan’s lead up to 2-0. Despite bringing the heat, Titans couldn’t seem to hold on to the power for the rest of the half. Within minutes, the Duhawks landed two in the goal and brought the score to an even 2-2. Not content with a tie, Loras evaded the Titan’s defense once more to bring the score to 3-2. The Titans were given multiple chances to recover their lead but fell short, leaving the Duhawks victorious.
This week’s game against Knox (Sept. 21) was led by junior Dane Hoare with a team-high of two on-goal shots out of three. Hoare’s two were the only shots that managed to make it on-goal, but seniors Donovan Malone and Zack Kokes, sophomore Joshua Cohen, and alternate senior Trevor Martin each attempted one shot, bringing the team total to seven shots. Even with their opportunities, the Titans weren’t able to catch up to the strong offensive moves the Prairie Fire was dishing out. Ultimately, they were outshot 9-7 by Knox.
Defensively, senior goalkeeper Brett Sprengel made two saves, keeping Knox from accumulating more points in the second half, but not before they were able to land two within the first 30 minutes of the game. The Titans were unable to offensively recover in the second half and they stayed down by two until the end of the match.
The Illinois Wesleyan men’s soccer team has a chance to recover this weekend when they head to Chicago, IL on September 25 for a CCIW faceoff against North Park. Kickoff is at 7:30pm.