Spartans Net First Road Victory
Sep 15, 2012 | J.Crane
ELMHURST, ILLINOIS – The University of Dubuque Men’s Soccer continued its non-conference season with a 2-1 win over Elmhurst College on Friday night. With the game tied at 1-1, the Spartans scored in the 80th minute of play to earn their first road victory of the season. UD is now 4-2-0 on the season.
The Spartans jumped out to an early lead with a Cory Winkler (Lakeville, Minn./Apple Valley) goal in the 15th minute. The goal came after a Jack Stefanksi (Wauconda, Ill./Carmel) shot was blocked, and controlled by Winkler in front of the goal for his third score of the season.
The Spartans went into halftime tied 1-1 after an Elmhurst goal late in the period. The teams played an extremely even first period with Elmhurst leading in shots (10-9) and corner kicks (2-1).
The physical contest continued in the second half with each team receiving yellow cards early in the period. UD took the lead 2-1 in the 80th minute on a Nick McDonald (Cary, Ill./Cary Grove) unassisted goal. The McDonald goal came after collecting his own rebound on the goal line and tapping it past the defense. The Spartan defense would not allow an Elmhurst shot on goal over the last 12 minutes of play to hold on to the lead.
Jake O’Rourke (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gormon) finished with six saves in goal earning his fourth win of the season.
UP NEXT: The Spartans will host Bethel University (0-5) on Tuesday, September 18th at 7:00 pm.
GAME NOTES: UD has now won back-to-back games against Elmhurst… McDonald leads the Iowa Conference in points (16), points per game (2.67), goals (6), and game winning goals (2)… The win moved the Dubuque overall record to 97-96-16 all-time.
