Isaac Bloom dribbles the ball around Macalester's Hunter Barrington. (photo by Roisen Granlund '17)
ST. PETER, Minn. – In a battle to the bitter end, the Gustavus men’s soccer team nearly upset No. 6-ranked Macalester, but lost 1-0 in overtime in the first game of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play Wednesday. The Gusties drop to 1-6-0 overall and 0-1-0 in the MIAC, while the Scots stay unbeaten at 5-0-1 and 1-0-0 in the league.
“Not the result that we were looking for, and we could solace in the fact that they were No. 6 in the nation, but we should have won the game,” Head Coach Mike Middleton said. “We dominated for periods without threatening the goal enough, and we were eventually caught on a break down at the back. This particular scenario is repeating itself too much now, and we need to get these games put to bed earlier. The players were magnificent in their endeavor, and I blame myself for changing our system to push forward and get the win.”
The first period saw eight total shots, five from Macalester and three from Gustavus. The second period was more in favor of the Gusties as they outshot the Scots 10-6. Henry Brose (Sr., Hudson, Wis.) gave the Black and Gold their best chance at claiming the victory as he fired a shot that nailed the post in the 77th minute. The Gusties had three more shots after that chance, but were unable to find the back of the net.
Patrick Roth battles for possession against Tristan Springer. (photo by Roisen Granlund ’17)
At the 4:32 mark in the overtime period, Macalester’s Jake Burke snuck a ball past the keeper as he was caught out of net attempting to stop a run.
“You have to take your hat off to Macalester, they are tough to break down and like good teams do, they find a way to get the win,” Middleton said. “I like the way they played, and hope they have a very good year. Hopefully, we’ll see them in the playoffs, but we have to get things turned around at our end.”
Despite the loss, the Gusties received a number of quality performances in a tightly contested match.
“Matt Murakami (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) was majestic at the back, and freshman Cody Billins (Farmington, Minn.) was truly outstanding, especially in the first half,” Middleton said. “Freshman Jarod Petrovic (Plainfield, Ill.) dominated the midfield – what a find he is – and Henry Brose up front worked tirelessly. Matt Ouren (So., North Mankato, Minn.) was excellent, but we expect that. Isaak Her (Fy., Little Canada, Minn.) in his debut worked his socks off and looked like a top player. The truth is the lads were all very good.
“Sometimes I think we don’t show how good we are. The opposing coach told us when we were 1-3 that we were the best 1-3 team he’d ever seen. We are now 1-6. We need to put a run together. We now need to get the job done.
“I’ve said it already, this team can beat anyone on its day and you have to give the lads credit for taking on a very difficult schedule, but we need to get going or the season will be past us before we know it. The lads are frustrated, I’m frustrated, my dog is frustrated, and the tea-lady is frustrated.”
Gustavus next travels to St. Olaf for a 1 p.m. match Saturday in Northfield, Minn.
“We have St. Olaf next who is ranked in the national top-twenty, and are a very good team indeed,” Middleton said. “We’ll have to do better than today, and that is all of us including myself.”