FULTON, Mo. – The Illinois College men's soccer team managed seven shots in the match, but none found the back of the net, allowing Westminster College (MO) to win with ease, 4-0, over the Blueboys on Saturday afternoon. IC drops to 0-3-0 early on in the season.
Ryan May nearly put Illinois College up a goal early on, but his shot in the sixth minute sailed just wide of the post. Westminster took advantage of the miss by earning a corner kick a few minutes after, in which Philip Udinyiwe headed the corner past
Raul Rubalcava to give the Blue Jays a 1-0 head start.
Illinois College looked to respond quickly, with
Brock Ziegemeier ripping two shots at the Westminster keeper, but they were both deflected away. Westminster then padded its lead midway through the first half with a goal from Patrick Wisnewski that put the Blue Jays up, 2-0.
Rubalcava began to receive a barrage of shots from the Westminster strikers, but he was able to collect numerous saves for IC. However, with ten minutes left in the half, a cross from Jephte Ngendo found the feet of Brent Lampen, who snuck it past the Blueboy keeper to give the Blue Jays a 3-0 cushion heading into halftime.
The game began to get chippy in the second half. Nearing the midway point of the latter 45 minutes, rough play on the field led to an Illinois College red card, dropping IC down to 10 men on the field.
While Illinois College managed a 10-man squad well, Westminster finally broke through with five seconds left to play. Michael Ellinger found the back of the net on a Barrett Smith assist to put the finishing touch on a 4-0 Blue Jays win.
The Blueboys take the pitch tomorrow on the road against Webster University. Start time for the match is scheduled for 6 p.m.
