Stats | The MNU Men's Soccer team wrapped up their non-conference schedule Wednesday with a 2-0 win at Ottawa. The win means that the Pioneers went undefeated in their first 11 games. Conference play starts on Saturday and the Pioneers will try to finish the final 7 conference games without a loss. The team is currently ranked #9 in the NAIA Top 25 poll and in today's first release of the MRPI; they find themselves ranked 8th.
Wednesday's game got off to an unsure start. The game was postponed for almost 90 minutes from the scheduled start time because of a problem with the officials. Only 2 of the 3 officials showed for the game and so both teams agreed to wait for a replacement official to arrive in Ottawa, KS. He finally did so and the game got underway. In a game that resembled the McPherson match from last weekend, MNU found themselves battling on another field that is extremely narrow and under the suggested guidelines for college soccer matches. But, unlike the McPherson game, they were able to manage the narrow width much better and just 17 minutes into the game,
Kalev Saarna put MNU up 1-0. He collected a ball that had been deflected in the box and put a shot away at the far post. In the 34th minute,
Matias Fernandez scored off a corner kick that was played in by
Lippi Souza. This made the score 2-0 heading into the halftime break.
The second half was somewhat stagnant. The Braves were pressing to try to create scoring chances and MNU was simply managing the game. MNU's
Trent Remmich had a shot go off of the crossbar after beating the keeper that would have sealed the game. As it was, the 2 goals in the first half were enough and MNU collected their 7th win of the season.
For the game MNU outshot Ottawa 15-8, with shots on goal being 8-2. Ottawa's goalkeeper was credited with 6 saves. Chris Eriksson was credited with 2 saves in earning the shutout victory. Ottawa is now 4-4 on the season. MNU's record is 7-0-4.
Saturday's home match that opens conference play is a big match that features #9 MNU vs #13 Missouri Valley. Game time is slated for 2:30pm at Pioneer Field. The HAAC announced earlier in the week that this match will be the featured conference game-of-the-week. Come out and support the Pioneers as they begin their bid for a conference championship.
