Box Score | Season Stats
(KIRKSVILLE, Mo.) – Sophomore Ben Hasse's flick of a bouncing ball into the back of the net following a first half corner kick was Wednesday's only goal, as the No. 11 Truman men's soccer team closed out the home portion of its 2010 season unbeaten with a 1-0 victory against Rockhurst (Mo.).
Hasse (St. Charles, Mo., CBC) scored his first goal of the season in the game's 13th minute, when junior Charlie Backus' corner kick was tapped on by senior Bobby Larkin (St. Louis, Mo., Parkway) right to Hasse, who blasted a shot into the lower left side of the net. It was Larkin's NCAA-leading 13th assist of the season and second of 2010 for Backus (St. Louis, Mo., CBC).
It was an extremely windy afternoon at the Truman Soccer Park, blowing from the west end of the field to the other. As a result, the Bulldogs (9-2-1) played with the wind in the opening 45 minutes, outshooting RU 10-8 and taking the lead, while Rockhurst (9-5-2) had the advantage in the second half – taking 15 shots to Truman's five. In addition, the Hawks took nine corner kicks to seven for Truman for the match.
Perhaps the player of the game though was Truman keeper Tyler Knierim (Hartsburg, Mo., Southern Boone), as the sophomore stopped ten shots – including an Paolo Scoppola penalty kick in the 32nd minute and a point-blank try once again by Scoppola in the 77th minute – to earn his fifth shutout of the season.
The physical contest saw 27 total fouls called, and nine total yellow cards with one red card.
The Bulldogs have four road matches remaining to close the season, including a contest at NAIA-Columbia (Mo.) College on Friday night at 7pm.
