Pioneers Handle Park

A beautiful afternoon for soccer was complimented with a win for the Pioneer men against Park University on Wednesday. The final score was 3-1 and it extends MNU's win streak to 4 games. It also marked the end of the non-conference schedule for the pioneers as they head into this weekend's opening match in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
 
After a shaky start that saw the Pirates have the better of play for the opening 20 minutes, the Pioneers were probably a bit lucky not to find themselves down a goal. "We didn't start the game with enough energy," stated Coach Wardlaw. As it was, the defense held firm and MNU began to find their way. After a slew of substitutions for MNU the breakthrough came by way of birthday boy Eddie Morales. He took a slotted pass from Jelani Jillo and coolly finished to the far post to give MNU the lead. "Our subs gave us a great lift today. They came into the game and gave us much needed energy and you could see the game begin to change," said Coach Wardlaw. 
 
The second half MNU came out on fire. They looked much more energized and immediately looked to control the tempo of the game. Park was not as effective with their passing game and MNU was looking to extend their lead. A foul in the box in the 70th minute gave the Pioneers the chance to do so. Lippi Souza stepped up and buried the penalty kick to give the Pioneers a two-goal advantage. MNU was not done yet. Just one minute later a Park foul called on the edge of the box gave MNU a set piece in a good position. Souza delivered a great ball and Aurelien Norest headed the ball into the back of the net for the third MNU goal of the afternoon. The scoring for the game was ended when Park scored a consolation goal in the 87th minute. A beautiful left footed curler that found the side netting ended MNU's school record shutout streak at 419 minutes. Chris Eriksson takes over in the record books from MNU Hall of Famer, Mike Dye, who is now the head coach at Brewton-Parker College in Georgia.
 
For the game MNU outshot Park 16-8, with SOG being 8-3. Eriksson was credited with 2 saves, both of which were in the first half. MNU moves their season record to 8-2-1. Up next is a HAAC contest at Graceland (4-5) at 7:00 on Saturday night. This is the Tourbeau Sports Group Men's Soccer National Game of the Week and will be featured on a national on-line platform. Information for links will be made available later in the week.