JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - The Illinois College men's soccer team continued Midwest Conference play by hosting Cornell College Wednesday night for Senior Day. The Blueboys earned a huge home victory over the Rams by the final score of 3-1. With this victory, IC now stands alone at the top of the MWC standings with a record of 4-1-2 and 14 points.
Prior to the match, the IC men's soccer coaching staff recognized four seniors; forward
Brayden Grimsey, defender
Albert Nimako, midfielder
Josh Platzbecker, and student-manager
Payton Lanning for their hardwork and dedication to the program.
The early portion of the match, the Blueboys came out very aggressive on offense by taking five shots. The Rams answered back with an offensive drive that resulted in a shot by Aiden Lerch but was saved by
Owen Macias. In the 35th minute, IC's
Reed Rogers ripped a fantastic shot that hit the top crossbar and went straight down for the goal. Each team battled back-and-forth for the remainder of the half as the score remained 1-0 at the intermission.
The Blueboys came out in the second half adding intense pressure on Rams defenders that caused several turnovers. In the 52nd minute, IC was rewarded a corner kick when Rogers delivered a spectacular entry ball that was headed into the back of the net by
Jives Efemini for the 2-0 advantage. Four minutes later, IC was rewarded another corner kick when
Jason Hernandez bent the ball over the outstretched Rams goalkeeper for a goal.
Cornell responded with a goal in the 87th minute from Federico Polidori that made the final score 3-1. IC's Macias recorded four saves in goal.
For the match, IC outshot the Rams 18-8 as Hernandez led IC with five shots.
The Blueboys will conclude the 2023 regular season with a visit to Beloit College on Saturday, October 21 at 1:30 PM in Beloit, Wisconsin.
