By: For the second match running, a tone-setting goal in the opening minutes helped lift the Blueboys to a 2-0 victory – this time with Coe College playing the role of victim.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – If something is working, why change it? In the season opener at Webster, a hustle play from
Alex Gardner put the Illinois College men's soccer team on the board in the ninth minute and spurred the Blueboys to a 2-0 win over Webster. On Saturday night, the script very nearly repeated itself. On this occasion it was
Luke Davis scoring very nearly the same type of goal as Gardner, racing in on a ball lofted high towards goal from the midfield. His early deposit in the back of the net helped IC sweep aside Coe College for its second straight 2-0 victory to open 2015.
The match was barely 10 minutes old when a foul on Coe left Illinois College with a free kick from midfield.
Cody Holop played it quickly out wide to
Mesfin Lenth down the left and he was given time to pick out a cross. His ball sailed high, giving Davis time to swoop in from the right side of the box and get a touch to the ball just as a Coe defender and goalkeeper Eric Hoar were converging. Though the ball took a deflection on the way through, it had enough on it to trickle in for a 1-0 lead.
Illinois College continued to have the better of the action throughout the first half, outshooting Coe by a 7-2 margin in the opening 45 minutes. Freshman
Nick Copley had a great chance to double the lead just moments after entering the match in the 36th minute after doing well to juke past a couple of Kohawk defenders and work his way into the 18-yard box. However his end result sailed high and kept the score at 1-0. It wouldn't be there much longer however.
Less than three minutes later, a Coe foul again created a goal-scoring chance for IC. With the ball sitting on the right wing,
Austin Cearlock scorched a cross in. The first Kohawk defender failed to deal with it properly and actually may have played a role in back-heading it to
Joe Tooley as Tooley made a run in front of goal. Whatever the case, the ball fell to Tooley's feet and he made no mistake with it, giving the Blueboys a 2-0 lead going into the halftime break.
Though Coe made the match more physical in the second half and picked up a pair of yellow cards in the process, the Kohawks couldn't break down the Illinois College defense or do much to trouble goalkeeper
Ty Clearwater. Clearwater earned his second clean sheet on the trot, making two saves in the match. The best scoring chances in the second half came from the Blueboys, with both
Anthony Willard and
Justin Hill forcing Hoar into saves.
Illinois College will look for a 3-0-0 start to the season on Sunday night, facing Westminster College (Mo.) at approximately 7 p.m. following the conclusion of the women's match between IC and Westminster.
