WAVERLY, Iowa – Wartburg men's soccer was edged 3-2 at home in its American Rivers Conference opener against the University of Dubuque on Saturday, Sept. 25.
Both schools entered the contest recognized by the most recent United Soccer Coaches region IX poll, with Wartburg being ranked No. 3 and Dubuque receiving votes. Wartburg falls to 2-4-1 and 0-1 in the A-R-C.
Wartburg scored the lone goal of the first half when
Jack Palen converted a penalty kick opportunity in the 26
th minute to give the Knights a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
The Knights would go down a man late in the first half due to a red card and finish the game at a 10 to 11 disadvantage.
The first half was near even in shots with Wartburg leading 7-6, but Dubuque led in shots on goal 3-1.
Patrick McMahon got the start in goal for the Knights and recorded three first half saves and would finish with six total saves while playing all 90 minutes in goal.
Palen struck again in the 57
th minute with his second goal of the night coming from another penalty kick to give the Knights a 2-0 lead.
Late in the game, the Knights defense was held strong as the Orange and Black kept the ball out of the box. The Orange and Black's offense continued to make chances at the other end of field.
Dubuque would go on to have a flurry of goals late in the match and scored three in the final 10 minutes. The go-ahead goal came in the 90
th minute for the Spartans making it 3-2.
A highly competitive contest, seven cards issued in this intense conference battle.
Next Time Out
The men are back in action Tuesday, Sept. 28 in Platteville, Wis. as they take on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville at 7:30 p.m.
For more information on Wartburg Athletics, follow the Knights on Twitter, Instagram, like us on Facebook, or sign up for text updates/score alerts from the rainedout.net text-messaging system.
