By: The Blueboys constantly seemed on the verge of a breakthrough that didn’t happen on Wednesday night, falling to Fontbonne under the lights of England Stadium.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Though they were the more dangerous team for most of the night, it wasn't to be for the Illinois College men's soccer team on Wednesday at England Stadium. A goal at almost exactly the hour mark gave Fontbonne the only offense it would need to secure a 1-0 victory.
After an opening 15 minutes in which Fontbonne pressed forward for an early advantage, Illinois College went to its bench for an injection of pace. It nearly paid immediate dividends. With
Christian Rwiyaza buzzing around the Griffin back line, he nearly was able to take advantage of some sloppy dribbling and passing to convert. A few minutes later, substitute
Brock Chartier hit the crossbar from 30 yards out.
The shots continued to come from the Blueboys early in the second half, with
Joe Tooley,
Roger Mies and
Josue Hernandez all trying their luck in the first five minutes after the restart. It was against the run of play that the Griffins took the 1-0 lead. Tim Menzel lined up a free kick from the right sideline and played the ball square. After a scrum on the edge of the 18-yard box, Alex Smith controlled the ball and shot to the lower right corner against a helpless
Scott Workman in goal.
As the game neared the end, IC consistently spent time on the Fontbonne half of the field, only for the Griffins to just get a touch in to break up play as the Blueboys searched for the tying goal.
Alex Gardner and
Roger Mies led Illinois College with two shots apiece in the match. Workman made two saves but dropped to 2-2-0 on the season.
Illinois College wraps up its two-match home stand on Saturday afternoon, hosting Concordia University (Chicago) at 1 p.m. to open up a doubleheader that concludes with the women's contest at 3:30 p.m.
