The MNU Men's Soccer team returns home today after picking up 2 wins on their trip to Prescott, Arizona. The games were hosted by Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. Prescott, Arizona is located about 2 hours north of Phoenix up in the mountains. A beautiful setting and perfect weather were countered by the altitude. “The guys did a really good job this weekend,” said Coach Wardlaw. “Anytime you play in the altitude it is going to test your fortitude and I thought the team did an incredible job of battling through in both games.”
In the first match on Saturday the Pioneers took on California State University – San Marcos. They came away with a 2-1 win after going down 1-0 early in the second half. Oumar Seck scored the tying goal with an assist by Trent Remmich with 11 minutes remaining in the game. Just four minutes later Trent scored the winning goal with an assist by Luis Padilla. Matt Gow played the entire game in goal and he came up big on several occasions to preserve the win. Every player saw minutes and that depth proved to be the difference as MNU was able to wear down the CSUSM back line. For the game CSUSM outshot MNU 8-6 with SOG being 3-2. CSUSM had a big advantage in corner kicks due to their very direct style of play. The corner kick tally was 10-1. CSUSM's goalkeeper was not credited with a save and Matt Gow for MNU was credited with 2 saves for the game.
In the second game on Monday, MNU was again victorious in a 2-0 win over host school Embry Riddle. This game was very different from the first game with both teams opting for a possession style game. Opportunities on goal were much greater and the MNU defense was able to shutout ERAU's attack. Matt Gow and Bret Olendorff combined for the shutout and both came up with important saves to keep the shutout in tack. In a wide open game MNU was able to seal the victory in a 34 second span in the first half. With the scored knotted at zero Trent Remmich played a ball to Luis Padilla for a beautiful one time finish to the far post. Just 34 seconds later Felipe Guimaraes played a ball to Remmich. He was able to squeeze the ball by the keeper at the near post and just like that MNU had a 2-0 lead. The Pioneers battled for the rest of the game to preserve the lead and gain the victory. ERAU outshot MNU 16-14, with SOG being 11-5 in MNU's favor. Corner kicks were 8-2 in ERAU's favor. ERAU's goalkeeper was credited with 9 saves. Gow and Olendorff combined for 5 saves on the game.
With the 2 wins MNU runs their record to 2-1 on the season. Their next game is their home opener on Saturday, September 11th at 3:15pm against Missouri Baptist University. Come out and support the Pioneers.
