River Forest, Ill. – The Dominican University Men's Soccer team was back in action after a week off from action. The Stars hosted the Spartans of Aurora University.
Results:
Dominican: 1
Aurora: 2
How It Happened:
-The Stars found pressure right away in the match as Senior
Tristen Banquil put a great ball into the box that deflected off a Spartan defender that found the back of the net to give Dominican a 1-0 lead 2 minutes into the match.
-Aurora found some motivation from being down early in the match as they earned the next 5 shots in the match. Junior
Roberto Navarro Mercado made two saves on the Spartans shots.
-DU was on their back foot with Aurora pressuring until Banquil and Graduate Student
Cole Wood each earned shots on target in the 24
th minute and 34
th minute of the match. Both were saved by the AU keeper.
-Sophomore
Eduardo Lopez added a shot in the 39
th minute of the match but did not find the target.
-Dominican went into the break with a 1-goal lead, despite only having three shots in the half.
-The Spartans were on the front foot right out the gate in the second half, with two shots in the first ten minutes of the half. Neither found the target.
-Aurora found the equalizer in the 55
th minute of the match.
AU did not take their foot off the gas, with their next shot hitting the post. Shortly after they hit the post, they scored the game-winning goal in the 64
th minute of the match.
-The Stars being down by a goal flipped the switch from defensive to offensive, earning the next three shots in the match. Junior
Juan Carlos Munoz, Junior
Jonathan Almaguer, and Banquil all earned shots. Almaguer's shot was on target but saved by the keeper. Munoz's shot was on the doorstep, but he was unable to put the ball in the back net, missing over the crossbar.
-Freshman Alexander Julian Garcia came into the match for Dominican at the break and made a save in the 78
th minute of the match to keep the score at 2-1.
-Dominican continued to put the pressure on the Spartans, earning two free kicks right outside of the 18-yard box. The first one, Sophomore
Josue Villanueva, took the first free kick, and his shot just missed the net, going over the crossbar. Lopez took the second free kick and put it on the target where the Aurora keeper made the save to keep the Spartans in front.
-Dominican had 2 corner kicks in the match, one in each half. DU also earned 6 shots in the second half, along with 9 shots total in the match.
Shining Stars:
-Senior
Tristen Banquil earned 2 shots, with one shot on goal.
-Sophopmore
Eduardo Lopez collected 2 shots in the match. 1 of those shots.
-Junior
Roberto Navarro Mercado started in net for the Stars and made two saves in his half.
-Junior Jonathaon Almaguer collected a shot on goal.
-Graduate Student
Cole Wood earned a shot on goal.
Leading the Way:
Goals: AU Own Goal (1)
Assists: N/A
Shots: Banquil and Lopez (2)
Shots on Goal: 5 Players (1)
Saves: Navarro Mercado (2)
Minutes: Fowler, Geraghty, and Almaguer (90)
What's Next:
Dominican University Men's Soccer improves to 4-3-2 (2-2-2 NACC) on the season. The Stars will be right back in action this Saturday, October 10
th, as they host Edgewood University. Kick-off between the Stars and the Eagles is set for 12:00 p.m. at West Campus Field.
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