NO. 16 ONU HOLD OFF SFU ON THE ROAD
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Olivet Nazarene (9-1-1, 5-0-1) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
|
St. Francis (Ill.) (4-6-1, 2-4-0) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
JOLIET, Ill. – The No. 16 Olivet Nazarene University men's soccer team snuck out of the Joliet Memorial Stadium with a 2-1 win over the Saints of St. Francis (Ill.) Wednesday night. Fabio Hasler netted the game-winning goal in the second half as the Tigers held on to improve to 9-1-1 on the season and remain undefeated in conference play.
St. Francis broke open the scoring in the 11th minute of the game. Against the run of play, the SFU was awarded a penalty kick. The Saints' attacker, Santos Contreras, buried his strike from the spot to give the home side the first lead of the night. The lead was short-lived as Konstantin Papanikolaou leveled the score in the 15th minute. Alexis Mancera fed the midfielder from Austria for his third goal of the season. St. Francis outshot the Tigers in the first period 7-3, but ONU held the 5-1 advantage in corner kicks. Both goalkeepers combined for zero saves as the teams remained level at the break.
Halftime: No. 16 Olivet Nazarene 1, St. Francis (Ill.) 1
ONU turned up the pressure in the second half flipping the script outshooting SFU 12-5 and winning 4-0 in the corner kick stat line for the second half. Fabio Hasler put the Tigers in front at the 72:47 mark to give the visiting side their first lead of the contest. Justin Eisenmann rolled a ball into the path of the wing-back from Switzerland who curled the ball with the outside of his right boot inside the far post. The goal ramped up the intensity for the remaining 17 minutes as both teams combined for 24 second-half fouls. Maarten Gravekamp drew a second yellow in the 76th minute as the Tigers had to play down a man until an SFU defender drew a straight red 10 minutes later. Olivet did not allow a shot on goal for the rest of regulation time on their way to the victory.
GAME VITALS
Final: No. 16 Olivet Nazarene 2, St. Francis (Ill.) 1
Records: Olivet Nazarene: 9-1-1 (5-0-1 CCAC) | St. Francis (Ill.) 4-6-1 (2-4-0 CCAC)
Location: Joliet Memorial Stadium| Saint Francis University | Joliet, Ill.
QUICK HITS
- Papanikolaou has now scored in consecutive games.
- Eisenmann has tallied assists in consecutive games.
- Hasler has two game-winning goals this fall.
- Mancera's assist marked his first of the year.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Tigers host Trinity International Saturday, Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. Please visit onutigers.com for all the links to follow along.
—ONU—
*Contact: Patrick Kaindl, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, pkaindl@olivet.edu