The Basics
Score: No. 23 Saginaw Valley 4, Lake Erie College 2
Records: SVSU (12-3-0, 10-3-0 GLIAC) | LEC (7-5-3, 5-5-3 GLIAC)
Location: Braddock Field - University Center, Mich.
UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich.- The Saginaw Valley State University men's soccer team hosted the Lake Erie Storm on Friday (Oct. 21) afternoon in a GLIAC tilt. The Cardinals got a goal and three assists from junior forward Matt Wilson and a goal and assist from Liam Reilly in securing a 4-2 victory over the visitors at SVSU's Braddock Field.
The Cardinals began the scoring in the 11th minute as Wilson weaved his way through the Lake Erie midfield to find Andrew Dalou 15 yards from the Storm goal. Dalou chipped the ball over the sprawling goalkeeper to give the Cardinals the 1-0 lead.
Saginaw Valley gained a 2-0 lead from a free kick off the foot of Liam Reilly. The free kick was tapped to Reilly from Wilson, and he buried the ball in the lower left corner for his first goal as a Cardinal. SVSU pushed the lead to 3-0 a few minutes later following a Wilson shot that redirected to Troy Watson, who then found the back of the net for his second goal of the season.
Lake Erie cut SVSU's lead to 3-1 in the 25th minute following a foul call inside the six-yard box on SVSU. Andrew Bucur scored on a penalty kick for the Storm's first goal.
The Cardinals re-gained the three goal advantage just a few minutes later as Wilson booted a free kick past Lake Erie's goalkeeper for his 11th goal of the season.
The score would remain at 4-1 heading into the halftime break.
The Cardinals picked up offensively where they left off in the first half, firing four shots at Lake Erie's net in the first four minutes of the half but weren't able to find the back of the net.
Saginaw Valley finished with 16 shots over the final 45 minutes of play. Defensively, the Cardinals took away the midfield from the Storm and held the team to four shots total in the second half.
Lake Erie added a late goal from Max Maguire with 16 seconds left in the match. The late goal gave the Cardinals their 12th win of the season by the 4-2 score.
Inside the Boxscore
- Wilson scored a goal and matched a career-high with three assists in the match. The five point effort ties a season high for the junior forward. He also put four shots on goal in the match. He leads the GLIAC with 32 points and 10 assists while ranking second with 11 goals.
- Azaad Liadi, Tobee Oyeleye, and Watson also had four shots in the match, with Watson scoring SVSU's third goal in the game.
- The Cardinals had 24 shots in the match in comparison to Lake Erie's eight.
- Saginaw Valley now has 36 goals scored this season, the most of any team in the GLIAC. The team's 15 goals against sits fourth.
- Connor Keane (12-3-0) made three saves in net for the Cardinals in his 75:49 spent in net.
- This is the second victory over the Storm this season for the Cardinals. SVSU defeated Lake Erie 2-1 in overtime in Painesville, Ohio on September 23.
- SVSU remains atop the league standings with its 10-3 GLIAC record. It stands two points clear of Tiffin University (9-3-1).
From Head Coach Andy Wagstaff
"Our staff as a whole is really happy with today's performance. We came in extremely concerned about a strong LEC team that is hard to beat, especially with us having many injuries. Thanks to our phenomenal athletic trainer, Jeremy Glaser, our lads managed to get healthy in a very short amount of time and played great! My assistants and I plotted some set pieces that the lads managed to convert in the first half, which relieved some of the pressure. In the second half, we managed the game well and our entire squad got much-deserved minutes in this win."
Up Next...
The Cardinals host Walsh University on Sunday (Oct. 23) for a 2:30 match at Braddock Field. The Cardinals defeated the Cavaliers 1-0 on September 25 in North Canton, Ohio earlier this season.
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