ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s soccer team played to a 1-1 tied with Macalester College on Tuesday evening at Macalester Stadium. The tie puts Gustavus at 0-3-2 in the MIAC and 5-3-2 overall, while Macalester moves to 2-0-2 in conference play and 6-0-5 overall.
“It was a really good battle today…a tough old game,” said Coach Mike Middleton. “We certainly had more of the better chances and were very unlucky to concede a scrappy goal at the end to tie the game. The game was characterized by their very direct style. At times they made Stoke City look like Barcelona! Nothing wrong with that, but not the style I would want to play as a player. It meant that we had to match their intensity and our lads stood tall all game, which was great to see.
We had four lads that made their first collegiate starts, including first-year ‘keeper Matt Bateman who was simply outstanding,” added Middleton “John Fox in the midfield alongside first-year Matt Ouren was top class, and Connor Danielson starting for the first time along with Alex Wilson…both did themselves great credit. First-year Davis Petros came on after 10 minutes and changed the game by bottling up their right side defensively. He’s a right back by trade, but played on the left today and did terrifically. First-year Jack Conroy started at the back alongside stalwart Patrick Leach and both were outstanding. And first-year Arthur Parens came on upfront and they really struggled with his pace.”
Gustavus notched its first and only goal midway through the first half when Patrick Leach (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) scored his second goal of the season on an unassisted boot at the 34:55 mark to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
However, Macalester was able to tie it up late in the second half when Alan Schembri-Wismayer scored his third goal of the season off an assist from Danny Baumann in the 76th minute.
The two squads played the remaining 14 minutes without any scoring, sending the game to overtime. There, despite six combined shots between the Gusties and Scots, neither team was able to find the net, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
Matt Bateman (Fy., Savage, Minn.), playing in his first complete collegiate game, earned the tie after allowing the one goal and making three saves. Macalester goalkeeper Zeke Vainer brought his record to 6-0-5 on the year after also allowing one goal and making two total saves.
“These MIAC games are like English second and third division games,” said Middleton. “They lack in skill, but they are tough, very physical, hard-running games with every challenge questioning your courage. It’s an ugly style, but you have to learn to compete or get run over. We’ve won four of the last six MIAC titles because we can also play. But, with us being a young team, we need to learn to deal with this physical onslaught before earning the right to play a possession game. Tonight was a major step forward in the right direction and very encouraging. The lads were terrific.”
Gustavus will return to the Gustie Soccer Field for the first time since Sept. 26 on Saturday when it takes on Augsburg (2-2-0 MIAC, 4-6-1 overall) in a 1 p.m. game.