HAMMOND, Ind.—The Truman men's soccer team played the second game of their opening weekend slate Saturday against Purdue Northwest and picked up their first victory of the 2019 campaign with a 2-1 victory. They rallied in the second half with two goals to overcome a 1-0 halftime deficit.
The first half saw the teams take some time to get into their groove. Truman's
Mac Knudsen registered the first shot on goal of the game in the sixth minute, which was saved. A foul in the box in the 16
th minute gave the hosts a golden opportunity to take the lead, but
Roy Hart made a stop on the penalty attempt by Anthony Iacopelli. However, just over two minutes later the hosts got on the board as Matthew Bahena beat Hart to give PNU a 1-0 lead. In the 22
nd minute fortune smiled on TSU as PNU's Francisco Avila hit the crossbar on a shot to keep the game at 1-0.
At the start of the second half, Hart was called upon once again to stop a penalty. Once again he stood firm and kept the game at 1-0. A couple minutes later Truman had a chance to get on the board but
Will Clayton's shot in the crossbar and kept the Bulldogs with a goose egg. But it would not be long before that would change.
Truman kept up the attack during the second half, and finally in the 81
st minute it paid off. Last year's leading scorer
Matt Yankowitz converted the penalty shot to draw even at 1-1. Finally, with momentum on their side, Truman got the go ahead goal from
Andrew Brennan. Up 2-1, the hosts nearly came up with an equalizer in the 89
th minute when Zaden Eby-Holmes put a shot on net that Hart was up to the task to stop.
Truman prevailed via a big effort from Hart, the sophomore keeper made five saves on six shots on goal against; including four in the second half. Yankowitz and
Jake Koenig each had two shot attempts to tie for the team lead. TSU had the edge in corners 6-4 but trailed in overall shots 11-10; but led the second half in shot attempts 9-6.
The team returns to Kirksville next weekend for their home opener against Quincy on Sunday the 15
th at noon.