Yellowjackets win another close one over Saints

The University of Wisconsin-Superior men’s soccer team continued its recent dominance over the St. Scholastica Saints with a 3-2 win Wednesday night before a crowd of 127 at Ordean Field.

The Yellowjackets had an answer for the Saints twice, trailing 1-0 and then 2-1 before scoring two second half goals to defeat the Saints for the second straight time and fourth time in the past six games (4-1-1). The game was played with gusty winds and heavy rains.

“Anybody who was tough enough to brave the weather was rewarded with the opportunity to see a great match,” UWS coach Joe Mooney said. “This is always a great match because it’s two quality sides who share a lot of passion for the game.

“Scholastica is extremely talented at all positions and they are obviously very well-coached. We knew that we couldn’t afford any let-downs because they are a side that will punish you for it, and they did. That being said, I’m very proud our team’s effort. It was 90 minutes of high-intensity, physical, gritty soccer. In the end, we made the most of our opportunities and were rewarded with a good result.”

CSS struck first in the 18th minute as Andrew Jenkins scored his 20th of the season with an assist from Erik Trochimchuk.

The Yellowjackets equalized in the 26th minute as Nate Engel headed in a throw-in from Alex Young to make the score 1-1 at halftime.

“Ales can really launch his throw-ins which is a weapon for us,” Mooney said. “He found Nate on the near post who was able to who was able to put his head on it. The angle the Engel took to get to the ball allowed him to get enough power on it to make it impossible (for CSS goalkeeper Adam Hewitt) to save.”

The Saints outshot the ’Jackets 6-3 in the first 45 minutes and had a goal disallowed in the first half due to an offside call.

CSS regained the lead early in the second half as Joe Watt received a pass from Jenkins in the middle of the field, made a man miss and had a perfect strike to the far corner of the net to make it 2-1 Saints 80 seconds into the half.

The Yellowjackets answered again seven minutes later as Ben Royce gathered the ball at the top of the box and hit a great strike inside the left post to make it 2-2.

Ryan Lynsmayer started the play by tracking down a ball deep in Scholastica’s half, won the ball off their defender and centered it to John Levenick, who then crossed the ball to Royce, who fired a half-volley into the upper left corner of the goal from 20 yards out.

After that second goal Superior seemed to control possession and would get a corner kick in the 70th minute. Brian Chapman hit an in-swinging corner kick that found Alex Young’s head on the near post. Young’s header streamed across the face of the goal and found the far side-netting to give the Yellowjackets their first lead of the night.

CSS put pressure on late, but a Ryan Cullen header off a throw-in was stopped by UWS goalkeeper Matt Elder as Superior prevailed 3-2.

Hewitt made four saves in the loss for the Saints, while Elder had five saves in the win for the ’Jackets. The Saints outshot the Yellowjackets 14-11 with both teams having eight shots apiece in the second half.

UWS (10-6-2) plays at UW-Platteville at 2:30 p.m. Saturday then hosts Finlandia at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The Saints (14-4) will be at Martin Luther College today and Bethany Lutheran College on Saturday to wrap up the regular season.

UW-Superior 1 2 — 3

St. Scholastica 1 1 — 2

First Half: 1. CSS, Andrew Jenkins 20 (Erik Trochimchuk), 17:25. 2. UWS, Nate Engel 3 (Alex Young), 25:59.

Second Half: 3. CSS, Joe Watt 10 (Andrew Jenkins), 46:19. 4. UWS, Ben Royce 10 (John Levenick), 56:06. 5. UWS Alex Young 2 (Brian Chapman), 69.34.

Tags: sports, soccer, uws, family