HANNIBAL, Mo.—The William Woods University men's soccer team suffered its first loss in nearly a month on Thursday afternoon at Hannibal-LaGrange University, as the Owls couldn't fend off the Trojans in the second half and fell in tough fashion, 2-1.
The Owls (8-2-2; 3-2-1 AMC), were in absolute control throughout the first 45:00 minutes of play, as the team outshot the Trojans (8-5; 6-2 AMC), 6-1.
The team was able to break the 0-0 tie at the 13:38 mark, as from just outside the 18 yard box on the right side, senior
Sebastian Burich blasted his shot into the far top left corner of the net, giving WWU an early 1-0 lead.
The defense for WWU was stellar in the first frame, as Hannibal-LaGrange didn't record its first shot until the 34
th minute from Nathan Sapp and his attempt was saved by freshman goaltender
Conor Cable.
The game evened out more in the second half, as both teams' totaled five shots a piece, while the pace of the game picked up even more.
In the 51
st minute, a pass from midfield off the foot of Manuel Saez found Joao Junqueira, who was able to dribble inside the WWU box and score past Cable, tying the game up 1-1. Â
Then, just five minutes later, after a foul was called on WWU, the Trojans were awarded a free kick 30 yards out and Nil Lamana kick into the box, found a cutting Ithamar Junior, who headed the ball just inside the near post, into the back of the net and gave the Trojans a 2-1 lead.
Despite the continued offensive pressure from William Woods, the Trojans defense and goaltender Jorge Bravo Gonzalez would not allow the equalizer and HLG was able to hold on for the one goal victory.
WWU outshot the Trojans 11-6 in the game and were led by Burich, as he scored his second goal on the year, while also leading the team in shots, having four.
Alex Severino added three, while
Harrison Bray contributed two and
Jacob Hawes and
Joe Lewis totaled one shot a piece.
In net, Cable, a Spalding, England, native, made two saves on the day, while this was the only the second time this year the freshman has allowed two goals in a game.
HLG, meanwhile, totaled six shots in the game and were led by the duo of Junqueira and Saez, who combined for four shots, while Sapp and Junior contributed one shot on goal.
The Owls will return to the pitch on Saturday October 18
th at Benedictine University at Springfield, with a kick-off time set for 3 p.m.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com on Friday afternoon for a full preview of Saturday's action.
