Max Malmquist dribbles his way past two Cobber defenders.
Luke Strom goes up high for a save for Gustavus.
Midfielder Mark Adams celebrates after scoring his first of two second half goals.
Bret VanderStreek heads a ball to a teammate in front of the goal.
The Gustavus men’s soccer team remained undefeated in MIAC play with a 3-2 win over a scrappy Concordia squad in St. Peter on Sunday afternoon. The Cobbers scored twice early in the game and held a 2-1 lead at the intermission. Sophomore midfielder Mark Adams was the difference for Gustavus as his two second half goals allowed the Gusties to claim a hard-fought 3-2 victory.
The Gusties jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first minute of play when Bret VanderStreek took a pass from Ben Ceder on the left side of the six-yard box and drove it past the diving Cobber goalkeeper into the lower left hand corner of the goal.
The Cobbers, however responded quickly as they tied the score at 1-1 when Kyle Quimby scored an unassisted goal at the 3:52 mark. Concordia then struck again just three minutes later when Riley McGlynn scored with an assist from Marco Riboli at the 6:47 mark to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Cobbers.
The Gusties controlled play for the rest of the half and had several good scoring opportunities, however Concordia goalkeeper Mads Schmidts came up with five very nice saves and the Cobbers took a 2-1 lead into the intermission.
Gustavus continued to keep the pressure on Concordia early in the second half, but Schmidt was always there to make the save until the 58th minute when the Gusties put together a quick counter attack with several nice one-touch passes that led to Mark Adams having the time to drive the ball into the upper left corner of the net to tie the score at 2-2. Assists were credited to Kyle Sadler and Fraser Horton.
The Gusties scored the gamewinner in the 72nd minute when midfielder Max Malmquist sent an arching pass to a streaking Mark Adams who was just inside the 18-yard box on the right side of the field. Adams re-directed Malmquist’s pass at a high velocity past the Cobber goalkeeper into the upper left corner of the net.
Both teams had a couple of decent scoring chances in the final ten minutes of play, but the Gusties managed to hold on for the 3-2 victory.
Statistically, Gustavus held a distinct advantage outshooting the Cobbers 19-7, while also earning eight corner kicks compared to two for Concordia. Luke Strom picked up the win in the nets allowing two goals and making one save. Mads Schmidt was the losing keeper for the Cobbers allowing three goals, while making nine saves.
The Gusties improve to 4-1-2 overall and 2-0-0 in the MIAC, while the Cobbers fall to 2-5-0 overall and 0-3-0 in the MIAC. Gustavus will travel to Collegeville next Saturday to face Saint John’s at 1:00 pm.